She Got It Honest
by TheBlueFoxtrot A Samba
Summary: Rogue, her father Logan, and Uncle Wade recently join the XMen after a visit from WeaponX. As if a house-full of mutants wasn't crazy enough without adding Deadpool. AU BlueVerse
1. Congratulations, It's a Girl!

Disclaimer: I don't own it. If any of y'all ever find a fic written by any one who does, you be sure to let me know.

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"_I have a kid, a daughter. I'm a father." _That was all the man could think as he stood dumbstruck, unaware of the coming storm, struggling to wrap his mind around the fact that he and his wife had created another human being. Naturally, most men would be in a state of awestruck wonder upon the birth of their firstborn. However, this was not exactly the _day_ of the child's birth. More like six years and about three months after the fact. His face clouded with anger and low growl escaped clenched teeth,_ "And she never told me."_

"Logan," the woman's voice was soft and quiet as if she were trying not to spook an already… agitated animal," I understand that you're upset-"

"That is one _serious_ understatement, lady," he snarled at her, trying to keep check on his temper as he started pacing in front the woman seated on the park bench.

"But the child still needs someone to watch over her, to protect her," she continued on like he hadn't interrupted her.

"Six years, Irene, and that woman decides now she just doesn't wanna be a mom anymore so she pushes the kid off on me? And how do I even know that she's even mine?"

"She is yours. Let there be no doubt of that. And as I have said, I have seen what will happen to her if she stays with her mother. He will come for because of her power. And she _will_ die, Logan. You are practically an immortal. Do you really think you could stand living, knowing you let your daughter die?"

He snorted, "Don't be tryin' to guilt trip me. And I didn't say if I was takin' the kid one way or the other."

At this point, he turned away from her and looked towards the little girl who was a short distance away, sitting on a swing set. She was looking right back at him. The wind picked up, and he inhaled deeply. _"She smells like me. And her." _Even if she wasn't his kid, he couldn't leave her to die. He looked back at Irene and sighed, defeated. If what the seer said was true, and he had never known her to lie or be wrong about her visions, he could not and would not turn his back on this child. He really hated seers.

"If I do take this, I'm raisin' her. She's mine. I don't want nobody tryin' come and up and take her."

"Of course."

He raked a hand through his blue black hair and glanced at the girl again. She was still staring at him.

"Did you tell the kid about me?"

"I told her that she was going to meet her father today. That she would be living with you for a while."

He arched a brow at that, not that anyone could see it, "A while. Right. Don't I need some papers on the kid or somethin'?" Another sigh, _"I cannot believe I am actually gonna do this." _Irene pulled an envelope out of her messenger bag and handed it to Logan.

"These have already been signed and validated. They just require your signature."

He just stared at it.

She stood up, unfolded her cane, and started to walk away.

"Ya ain't tellin' the kid bye?"

She turned back to him.

"I already have. I need to be going. Good luck, Logan. You'll need it."

And then she kept walking. He watched her go for a while and seriously considered hauling her blind butt back, tell her to keep the kid and hightail out of there. Instead, he looked at the luggage she had left on the bench. There were three of them. They were purple. He heard the thunder in the distance and realized the storm was moving in faster. He moved to the bench, opened one of them, shoved the envelope in it and zipped it up. He then grabbed the other two in one hand and stalked toward the swing set and stopped a four feet in front of the girl who had not once taken her eyes of him as far as he could tell.

"_I cannot believe I am actually doin' this."_

This close up, he had to admit the kid did sorta resemble him a little. Number one that immediately struck him: they had the same gray, green eyes that seemed to shift with emotion. Secondly, the girl looked to have a slight cleft in her chin. She had curly, reddish brown hair. They just stood there for a few minutes, neither really sure what they were supposed to do now. At least, he didn't.

And then suddenly, the girl spoke.

"What's your name?" she asked in her soft, southern accent.

"Irene didn't tell you?"

She shook her head.

He frowned at that. Irene said she had told the girl about him. Why wouldn't she have told her his name? Then he remembered. She had only said that she told her he was her father and would live with him. And that was probably all she told her. Hopefully, that was all she told her. He didn't have a very pretty past and it really wouldn't do to traumatize the kid before they even got a chance to bond.

"Logan Howlett," it him that he didn't know her name either, "And you would be…?"

The girl stood up and held out her hand.

"I am Anna Marie Darkholme – Howlett, and it's a pleasure."

He blinked, reached out his hand and shook hers. "_Cute kid." _She had pretty good grip, too.

For a six year old girl, that is.

"Nice ta meet ya. Listen, kid, there's a storm comin' and-"

"Anna."

"What?"

She tilted her head, put one hand on her nonexistent hip and shifted her weight to one leg.

"I just told ya my name is Anna. Is it that hard for ya to remembah?" she spoke to him as if he were the child, and if there were any doubt this was his wife's kid, it was gone in that moment. He let out a bark of laughter. She definitely had her mother's attitude. He couldn't help the small grin on his face.

"Sorry bout that, _Anna_. But we need to get goin' before we get caught out in the rain."

"What's so bad bout gettin' caught in the rain? I love the rain."

"Kid,-" she gave him the dirtiest look he'd ever seen a six give and quickly corrected himself, "Anna, let's not start this wrong, all right? Ya hungry?"

"No."

"Well, we need ta get goin' anyway," he turned, walked away and could hear the ki- Anna following him. They were headed to his truck and then out of town. He wasn't sure where they were going. When he was alone, he'd just pick a street and go. He didn't see any reason for the kid to change that.

"_Won't she need to go to school? She's six. Do they go to school at six?" _He decided to think a about it later.

Once they made it to his pickup, he unlocked the doors and deposited her purple bags in the back seat. He turned to _Anna_. She was standing on the rear wheel of the truck, trying to move the tarp that rested on some large, indefinite shape.

"Anna, we gotta go."

She looked at him from her perch.

"What's under here?"

"My bike."

"Really? A motor bike? What kind?"

" A Harley-Davidson."

"Will you let me drive it?"

He smirked. "Yeah. That'll happen. When someplace very, very hot gets very, very cold." She pouted."Now, hop down, get in." And with that, he moved around the truck to get in the truck and heard the passenger door slam. Just as he pulled on the door, the locks slid into place. He looked in the window and saw Anna with an impish smile that made her look just like _her_ , and one hand on the lock button. He held up his keys and jingled them. She continued to smile. He put the key in the lock and turned it, but Anna had crawled over to the driver's seat and was holding the lock in place.

"Anna. Quit playin' and open the door.''

She just kept smiling. That smug smile was starting to piss him off. And at that moment, Logan felt a drop land on his hand. And then another and another, and soon it was pouring all around him.

"Anna, open the door," he growled.

She pressed her head against the window and shook it back and forth, clearly amused. He, however, was most certainly not.

"This ain't a game, kid. Open the door or else."

"What's the magic word?"

"_The magi- Oh, she wa- that little-"_

"You are askin' for it."

"I'm sorry but none of those were the magic word. Please try again." That grin was starting to rival the Cheshire Cat.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. _"Why did I agree to this?"_ He held up a fist.

"One," as he said it, a long silver claw came out of his hand. Anna stared at it, wide-eyed and mouth open.

"Two," another claw, and at that point, Anna was thinking she should probably back off the guy who Aunt Irene said was her father. At least until she found his limits.

"Three," a third claw, and just as he brought his fist back, Anna unlocked the door, opened it for him, hopped back in her seat, smiled at him, and said just as sweet as you please," Congratulations, 'three' is the magic word. Ya should get in before ya truck gets all wet."

Thoroughly soaked, he sheathed his claws, opened the door, and slammed it shut. Then he turned to the little…thing in his passenger and glared at her in a way that usually made grown men squeamish. It had no affect whatsoever on Anna.

"Ya have to do better than that. Mama's scary faces are better."

That took him by surprise. Thinking of _her_ as 'Mama' was just… it didn't fit.

"I'm sure they are."

He reached back around his seat to the back searching for a clean or just dry shirt. It took a few minutes but he finally succeeded. He stripped off T-shirt he had been wearing, not really thinking about the fact that he was half naked in front of a little girl who had been raised by a seemingly paranoid woman the first years of her life, and quickly put on a flannel shirt. He then tossed the soaked garment at the gawking girl, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Hey!" she practically squealed as she ripped it off of her head. "What's yer prob-"

She stopped what was going to be the most impressive tirade a six year could give but thought about it a moment.

"Well, yeah. I did kinda deserve that, huh?" She had actually had the grace to look sheepish. "I'm sorry. Ya forgive me?"

And then she looked at him, with his eyes, and his heart softened if only a tee-notchy bit.

"Yeah, I forgive ya," she smiled at him and he felt the anger ebb away. After all, she was just a kid playing around. That's what they did, right? No harm done. This time.

"But," he told her in a dead serious tone, "the next time I tell ya to do somethin', ya do it. Not the second or third time and do not make me threaten you. Do you understand?"

She saluted him.

"Sir, yes, Daddy sir!" she giggled at that.

He blinked. He felt like he had been doing that a lot today. _"She just…"_

He looked at her, totally gobsmacked.

"What did you just say?"

She turned towards him in her seat and looked him in the eye and said," I called ya Daddy 'cuz that is who ya are. But don't get used to it. I'm only callin' ya that on special occasions. I think I like callin' ya Logan better, do you understand?"

"_Little smart mouth."_

"Sure, k- Anna, whatever ya want."

It was raining lightly by now and since it was early afternoon, Logan left the small town of Caldecott, Mississippi and hit the highway. It had been silent in the truck cab since their understanding, but not an uncomfortable one. He glanced at Anna who was staring out the window. They were headed east. He really had no idea where he- they were headed beyond that. Sometimes he had a vague idea, but this time he just did not know. Irene had just told him to get her out of Mississippi. She hadn't told him of any where he shouldn't take the girl, just as long as it wasn't there. Maybe the kid had an idea.

"Anna."

"Logan."

"You ever been out of Caldecott before, out of the state?"

"No. Why? Where are we goin'?"

He shrugged.

" Don't know. Where do you wanna go?"

She shot him a look.

"Yer askin' me? I get to choose?"

"Yeah."

"Any where I say, we go?"

She was starting that Cheshire cat impersonation again. He was not understanding why she was getting so excited. Was it because she hadn't travelled? It wasn't that big of a deal.

"That's what I said, kid. 'Course if ya don't wanna then I-"

"No! I know just where we goin."

He waited expectantly.

"Where?"

"We're goin' ta Disney Land!"

He blinked once, twice, and just looked at her.

"What? Ya said anywhere. What's wrong with Disney Land? They have Timon and Pumbaa."

A deep, heavy sigh seemed to come from the depths of his soul.

" Oh, come on. Ya can't just go back on it. Do you want me to beg? 'Cuz I will. Please, please, please with ice cream and sprinkles and chocolate sauce with a cherry on top, can we go to Disney Land, please?"

Throw that in with the puppy dog eyes, and she had him.

"…"

"_What am I doin?"_

"All right. We're goin' ta…Disney Land."

"Yes! Thank you, Daddy!"

He gave her that look again.

"What? Goin' ta Disney Land is defnitly an occasion."


	2. No Relation

**Disclamer: If I owned it, y'all would be watching new seasons and reruns on tv. But y'all ain't so…**

**Eight years later**

There was a crowd gathered around one well kept pool table inside a poorly kept bar house. This wasn't very unusual for the small Montana town. Nor was the fact that there was a sizable amount of cash on the line. However, that a forty-two year old man was getting his butt handed to him by a fourteen year old with curly hair and a white streak running through it was. That the kid was a girl was just pouring salt in the wound.

When the game first began, he had almost felt bad about taking money from a baby. After the break, he had intentionally missed a shot so the girl wouldn't feel too bad. That was his third mistake. Once she started going, she didn't miss a shot. She had the cue ball doing backspins, rebounds around impossible shots, jumping it over the others. It was ridiculous. And now she only had to sink the eight ball to win the game, the five hundred dollars, and a little piece of his dignity.

The girl studied the table looking for the best shot. The men surrounding the table made suggestions, but she ignored them. Maybe she should have let Clarence clear the table a little bit. Nah. This was more fun. Now sure of what she needed to do to win this game, she positioned herself to take the shot and hit. The cue ball rebounded of the side of the table, danced around the solids still littering the table, and gently nudged the eight into the corner pocket.

A raucous cheer went up from the men and a lot of good natured teasing was already coming to Clarence. He dragged a hand down his face and pretended to sob a little. The girl walked over to him.

"Good game," she smirked at him.

"Yeah, right," he scoffed back.

He then held out his hand, and she shook it a lot firmer than he thought she would and smiled at him.

"All right, enough of this. I'm gonna go home and get my butt kicked by my wife now."

And with that he turned and walked out the door. The girl laid her cue stick on the table and made her way to the bar where two men were waiting for her. She settled onto the stool in between them and smiled at the bartender.

"I'd like five hundred and a chocolate sundae nuts on the top and bottom, please."

The bar house doubled as a ice cream parlor in the daylight. They had given the money to the bartender before the game to hold for the winner. He palmed it to her gloved hand and went to make her treat.

"So now that you've won the game, what are you going to do now?" the man on her left asked her in a game show announcer voice. He had brown hair and eyes, and though the normal patron couldn't tell, he was armed to the teeth underneath the trenchcoat he wore.

"I'm goin' to Disney Land!"

"No way in hell," growled the man on her right.

"Aw, come on, Jimmy! It'll be fun. We can spin around in those giant tea cups, and kidnap the princesses and put them in the towers, and shoot the animals in the safari again! And they have cheesecake and Goofy!" he exclaimed.

The other men at the bar just assumed that the guy had way too much to drink. They would almost be right. He had downed five beers and was halfway through his sixth. However, he was stone cold sober. Something that just came with having advanced healing factors.

"I am not takin' either of you maniacs to that place."

Anna opened her mouth.

"And you two can't go together."

And shut it.

"But, Jimmy, it's the happiest place on earth! How could you not wanna go?"

"Wade, if I have told ya once, I told ya a thousand times: do NOT call me Jimmy!"

Wade pouted.

"Well excuse me, Mr. Howlett. I just thought that we were closer than that. That we shared a sort of commraderity after our time in service together. All the laughs, times I've saved your life, I just thought they meant something to you, but apparently I was wrong. Apparen – "

"Wade! Shut yer fu – "

"Little ears," he interrupted and nodded at Anna who was watching the whole thing very amused. She knew that the 'Disney' comment would have started something. It always started something. Someone really should have told Logan not to give a six year old sugar.

He sighed.

"Just shut up."

"Fine. Just say that. I know when to shut up. I do it when people tell me to do it. If that's what you wanted me to do, you could have just said it. I mean, I know I talk a lot, so if I just start talking too much, just tell me to shut up and I will shu – "

"Shut up right now, or I will cut out your freakin' larynx."

After a few moments of blessed silence, the bartender delivered the sundae.

"There you go, Miss. Enjoy."

"I will." She had a huge grin on her face which quickly disappeared when Logan snatched the sundae away.

"What do ya think yer doin'?" she asked, her voice low and deadly.

"You sure you need that much sugar, darlin'?"

"Yes. I. Do. Now, give it here, or ya'll can _tell_ me just what exactly you and 'Uncle' Wade used to do," she said menacingly while fingering her gloves.

The dish was immediately replaced as was the manic smile. She then proceeded to demolish the treat.

"So, where're we headed?" she asked in between bites.

"It's gettin' close to winter, so we can either head south or go to the cabin. Whatever you want."

"I'll decide tomorrow."

"You need a name," Wade declared out of nowhere. Logan checked his watch. Two minutes, fourteen seconds. A new personal best without having to do any physical harm.

"What are ya talkin' about?" she looked at him.

"A codename. I have one, Jimmy has one, every one has one. But mine totally kicks every one else's butt. I can't believe he let you walk around a whole year without one. But I'll fix that. We are not leaving this spot until I come up with a name for you," he announced dramatically and promptly situated himself into the 'Thinking Man' position.

Anna and Logan shared a look. He stood up and headed to the bathroom. They were going to be there a while.

Anna continued to eat her sundae, occasionally glancing at the man beside her.

"Think, think, think…" he muttered quietly to himself while tapping his head with a finger.

"Eureka!" he exclaimed, suddenly straightening and jabbing a finger in the air, startling Anna, causing her to choke on her ice cream.

"I hope that's not what you came up with," she rasped and cleared her throat. "Ugh, I have ice cream in my lungs."

"Hmm? Oh, no. That's not it. It's- hey, where'd Jimmy go?"

"I'm right here. Done already?"

"Yep, I got a real good one. Almost as good as mine," he giggled and started drifting off to that strange and scary place that is his mind.

"Wade. Wade," Logan reached over and smacked him on the back of his head. Nothing.

"Uncle Waa-aade. Hey, is that Bea Arthur?"

That got him.

"What? Where? Bea, I LOVE YOU!" he frantically looked around. Then realization dawned. He clutched a hand to his chest and looked at her, heartbroken.

"How could you? You know Bea's… that she's…" he choked and dramatically threw himself on the bar, sobbing his heart out.

"WHY HER? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"

They were getting quite a few looks at this point. Logan completely ignored it though and signaled the bartender for another beer.

"Uncle Wade, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

He continued to wail.

"Hey, how about I get ya a chimichanga?" she asked hopefully.

The screaming stopped. He turned his head slowly to look at her.

"You –hic- promise?" he sniffed.

"Yeah, I do."

"Can I have more than one?," he pouted.

"As many as you want."

He popped up out of the stool.

"All right, Jimmy, Rogue. Let's bounce up outta this popsicle stand."

Logan and Anna looked at him.

"What did you say?"

"You are so not hip. It means let's leave."

"I meant what did you call Anna. Rogue?"

"Yeah. Isn't it great? Simple yet mysterious. You don't know what to expect with a name like that."

"Whatever. Anna, pay the man and let's get back to the hotel."

"Yo."

He turned and looked at her.

She was grinning that mad grin.

"The name is Rogue."

* * *

A/N: So we have a desktop and two laptops. Only one laptop has Microsoft word and it was actin' retarded. My dad gave it to a guy to de-retard it and it took like two weeks.

The two weeks abduction turned out to be a good thing though cuz I was gonna do somethin' totally different than this.

I think at some point, I will do a one-shot of their adventures in Disneyland. I just fine myself laughing when I think about how that would go down.

Wade Wilson, aka the Deadpool, is not related to Logan or Rogue. As far as I know. Also in my story, he is not disfigured. Still insane though. I just wanted to introduce him in the story 'cuz I plan on bringing in him again later and wanted to introduce y'all to the relationship he has with them.

Also, Wolverine is James Logan Howlett.

I think that's it. Any questions are welcome. Reviews are appreciated. I would promise y'all some obscure thing like world peace and pecan pie, but I'm not a politician so…yeah.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. And shout out to Anna Marcia Gregorio. Your input seriously helped.


	3. Family in Arms

**Disclaimer: If I owned X Men, Rogue wouldn't have been so pathetic in the movies, Remy wouldn't just be showin' up in the fourth movie, everyone wouldn't be dead, Deadpool and Gambit would have gotten more screen time, and a whole bunch other stuff. And I wouldn't have sold out to Disney.**

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**Four Years Later**

It was a beautiful spring day. The early morning sun was shining, the air was fresh, and the birds were singing. Of course, you wouldn't hear the birds over the rifle shots. In a clearing Richards, South Carolina, a young man and a younger lady were trying to cut down trees using gunfire alone. Surprisingly, it was rather effective. Several young pine trees had been felled during target practice.

They were both working on the same tree, one thicker than the others, when the man signaled to stop. He turned and walked over to a checkered blanket with various pistols, rifles, shotguns, scopes, bullets, clips, and other gun stuffs and the girl followed him. Two ATVs were parked near it. He knelt down, reverently placed the rifle, a Colt Match Target M4, on the blanket and reached behind him to receive her twin.

"M'kay, Roguey, we're moving on to pistols for a while. What do you think you can handle?"

"Don't call me 'Roguey'," she growled at him and tilted her head, studying a lovely pair of Desert Eagles. Bad idea. She almost lost a finger from the kickback last time.

"You sound like Jimmy."

"Better I sound like than look like him.''

"But you do look like him. I mean you got the pretty parts. Like the eyes. They look better on you though. And, girl, you are workin' the cleft!"

"Shut up and hand me a Glock."

"Wimp," he scoffed and complied, careful not to touch her bare hand.

"What was that, Wade?" she cocked the pistol at him.

"I love you!" he replied quickly.

She gave him a look that said "I know that's not what you said, but I'm gonna let it go 'cuz I love you too, you idiot", (1) and walked back to take her position in ten feet from a stump about six feet tall. 'Stumpy', as he had been named, was a 'white' 'man' with long 'blond' 'hair'. It was more like a stick person though and Wade had declared it to be his best work to date.

"Back up 'til I tell you to stop. We should be able to hit farther than that by now."

She did so, and the command didn't come until fourteen feet later. She was now twenty-four feet from her target

"Shoot him in the head," Wade called to her.

She spread her legs and took her stance. The butt of the gun was secure in her left hand, and the pointer finger of her right hand rested near trigger. She had her target, breathed deep, let it out and squeezed the trigger. She continued to fire until there was one bullet left. The kickback and report was nothing compared to the rifles, so she easily held her ground and didn't even flinch at the explosion.

Rogue couldn't tell from this distance if the bullets had hit their mark and looked to Wade to verify as she jogged up. He was standing directly in front of Stumpy, blocking her line of sight.

"Well?" she asked.

"You missed."

"What?" she would have sworn she'd hit, "Lemme see."

She pushed him aside and studied the dummy. After a few moments, she rounded on him.

"What are ya talkin' about? I hit him!"

He raised a brow at her outburst and pointed to a hole went through Stumpy's 'hair'.

"Are ya kiddin' me? It's one shot. All the others hit."

"What if they hadn't? What if you only had one bullet left and this was the shot you made?" he gestured at it accusingly, "I tell you what would happen. A guy with hair like that would be all 'Gasp, my hair! Oh you will pay for that! Do you realize how much it takes to pay for Indian hair?' "

"Wade."

"You mostly just pay for the labor 'cuz those guys have to hold those women down and shave their hair off. 'Cuz you know ain't no sane women willingly gettin' their heads shaved off, knaw mean?"

"Wade!"

"Well, except Britney Spears. But we all know that chick is livin' la vida loca. I wonder where Beyonce gets her hair from. Indonesia, possibly. Or maybe-"

Wade was cut off when a bullet entered and exited his throat. He doubled over with one hand on his knee, the other on his neck as he gasped and choked on blood. He looked at Rogue who stared dispassionately back.

The hole in his neck rapidly closed, leaving a faint scar that would soon fade as well. He shot a death glare at her, which had zero effect. Living with a wolverine and perfecting the art on her own, Rogue was immune to them. So she smiled.

"Was that better?"

"You know actually it was. That is a classic tactic," she was losing him again. "Go for the enemy when they're distracted. So simple but it never fails. Well, there was that one time-"

"Uncle Wade, do not make me shoot you again."

"Okay! Enough of the doorknobs (2). Now, throwing knives, sword play, or hand-to-hand?"

bdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbd

It _was _a beautiful spring day. The sun was currently hiding behind the clouds, the air was thick and humid with coming rain, and the birds had gotten the heck out of Dodge. Many hours, bruises and cuts later, two bloodied figures were laid out in the middle of what was once a peaceful clearing. It looked like a battle field now. Things had started out hand-to-hand but escalated into very destructive proportions. Grass was burnt, clothes were slashed, Wade lost a tooth, and Stumpy was smoldering. All in all, today's session had been rather mild.

Wade was, of course, the first to recover.

"_Jerk."_

"What a blast!" he got up and started to stretch. " We have got to bring Jimmy next time. I swear that man is always working. He never spends time with the family anymore. I mean, you're practically grown, old enough to get married an-"

He was interrupted by Rogue, who was sprawled out on her back with a Magnum leveled at his head, though her arm was trembling. Her infamous death glare, however, was steady.

"Oh, yeah."

He reached down, took the gun, and laid it aside. He plopped down next to her, removed a glove, and let his palm brush against her fingers. A flowing sensation went through his body. It wasn't painful, not to him. Kind of like freefalling without the impact. He giggled, and then passed out.

She stayed as she was as she felt her wounds heal. Neat as rapid healing, Rogue sat up with a frown. She did not like having people in her head. It was troublesome. Especially so if they talked to her, which they did. Especially if they were insane, which Wade is. And it was just so many kinds of wrong when psych Wade was telling her to cut off real Wade's head and bury it for kicks and giggles.

She sighed and put her glove back on. If only Logan were here. Then she'd definitely do it. Wade was talking in his sleep.

"Oh, Bea!"

Time for him to wake up.

She scrambled to her feet and kicked him hard in the side.

"What you do that for? I was having the best dream. It was about-"

"Bea Arthur, bazookas, and chimichangas."

Gasp. "How'd you know? Are you channeling a spook (3)?"

"You always dream that dream. Can we go to the house now?"

"You don't want to go again? But it was so much fun. And you were doing so well too."

The Deadpool in her was telling her to 'go psycho'. But Rogue shoved him to the back of her mind and stood her ground.

"No. I wanna go home, take a shower, and pass out on the floor. So let's pack up."

"Aaawww."

He popped and they started repacking the gear.

"You know you're helping me clean these, right?" he asked.

"But I don't wanna."

"Too bad," he shrugged, "'cuz you're gonna."

"But Uncle Wade,"

"Goats butt, dogs sniff it, politicians kiss it. It's important that you know how to care for your weapons, Rogue. If you don't, they'll be useless to you. You might as well go to a fight unarmed. And I mean, literally unarmed. You have just as much chance winning. This is for your protection just as much as the rest of your training. Capiche?"

"I got it," and she had too. This was one of those rare moments when Wade was actually dead serious about something that did not include Bea Arthur or chimichangas and said something important. It was monumental. And apocalyptic.

"_These are the end times."(4)_

They finished the cleanup and loaded up the ATVs in relative silence apart from Wade humming the 'Phineas and Ferb' theme song.

"Hey, Rogue."

She glanced at him from her seat.

"Race you home," he revved the engine.

She smirked at him.

"Loser cleans the guns?"

"You're on."

And with that, they tore out of the clearing.

* * *

A/N: I totally forgot last chapter. I do not condone alcohol unless it's in Nyquil. Then it's all good.

1. Such a look is possible. Me and my sister do them all the time.

2. He calls them doorknobs sometimes. I don't know why.

3. Spook=Telepath

4. Seriously. They are.

I love Phineas and Ferb.

There will be no more time skips. The story will get into the non-existent plot next chapter, I think. There maybe flashbacks though. Not sure.

Holaaaa (sorry if it's the wrong amount of a's) and breakfast,lunch,dinner,eat it, thank you for your reviews.

Anna Marcia Gregorio, I know I said I wasn't gonna put Wade here but, well he didn't want to go yet. And I love him. I'm surprised no one asked where he came from though. I love that you are the only one who questions me. Makes me think. (HINT HINT to the other people!)


	4. Guess Who

There is no disclaimer 'cuz Deadpool pumped it full of lead.

* * *

An old Chevy pickup rumbled down an old country 'road', more of a dirt trail, carrying a man who was older than dirt. At least that's what Wade would say. But that is irrelevant. The fact that he was being followed was. He wasn't certain, though. Could be paranoid. But hey, paranoid keeps you alive. Or if you have a healing factor and an unbreakable, adamantium skeleton, it spares you life's little annoyances such as extreme and unnecessary pain.

Logan did a mental rundown of people who would want to hunt him down. He scrubbed a hand down his face. The list was _very _extensive. He didn't recognize the scent, but it was familiar. But he knew he didn't like him. Whoever it was, he could handle it himself. Which was why he was headed to the edge of his property line instead of to the house. When the sheriff asked about the body, he wanted to be able to use trespassing as plausible cause for the bullet in its skull.

He turned the truck off the trail and just before he pulled it up to the edge of the woods, he threw it in reverse and slid the back end around so that he was facing the road. He tucked one of his guns in his waist band, left the truck running, got out, and waited. He didn't wait long.

A man with prematurely gray hair stepped from out of the dark. When he spotted the patch covering the man's left eye, it was all he could do not to just screw it all and take out the right one.

"It's been a long time, Weapon X," he talked around a wooden toothpick in his mouth.

"Not long enough. What do you want, Fury?" Logan snarled.

"To help you and your little family. They –, "he was cut off when Logan slammed him into the side of the truck. He hadn't even seen him move.

"You leave them out of this," he all but yelled," if your dogs go anywhere near –"

"S.H.I.E.L.D isn't who you need to be worried about. Weapon X is."

For a man pinned by a dude with a bad temper and metal claws, Colonel Nick Fury was impressively calm.

"I came to help you out. I would appreciate it if I could do it from the ground," he was promptly dropped and took his time straightening his clothes.

Logan let out an impatient growl and glared the other man down, which had in the past make grown men piss their pants. It didn't faze Fury in the slightest.

"They're sending a team to bring you back. Only four major players: Washout, Kestrel, Marrow, and Sabertooth. There are an unknown number of grunts. Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle."

He growled.

"I know the other three. Who is Washout?"

"John Lopez. Just somebody they picked up. Has the ability to manipulate and transform his body into water. That includes the water inside your body."

"Who's running Weapon X?"

"My operatives have been unable to verify this information, but we know it's not Malcolm Colcord."

Logan shot a considering look.

"There's somethin' you're not tellin' me."

"Of course. But I owe you."

Logan smirked and climbed in his truck.

"You owe me three."

He slammed the door and revved the engine. The Colonel stepped aside, waved him off, and disappeared into the woods as Logan's truck roared onto the path.

* * *

The words to Shania Twain's 'I Feel Like a Woman' were clearly discernable outside the sprawling ranch house as the stereo system belted out the song with Wade on backup. He was in the kitchen, dancing to the music as he prepared the evening's meal.

He and Rogue had finished cleaning the guns hours ago, and he'd gotten bored and decided to watch Food Network. This was why he was pulling chicken and dumplings, and pecan pie, Spanish spice rubbed rib-eye with vinegar steak sauce, Mac Daddy mac n' cheese, collard greens, courtesy of Paula 'Stick o' Butter' Deen, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Emeril 'Bam' Lagasse, respectively, and mashed potatoes from a box.

Rogue had watched TV with him for a while, but then he started talking about cooking and went into the kitchen and started singing Christina Aguilera's Beautiful. She abandoned him not long afterward and decided a nap was in order. She loved him and everything but did not want to expose her self to all that.

All the racket Wade was making roused her from a dreamless sleep. As she opened her eyes, she was startled to realize she didn't recognize the room she was in. The purple and silver color scheme was acceptable for a girl, but not something he would pick for himself. _"Whoa_. _Hold up."_ Rogue put her head in hands, her straight white streaked, auburn hair falling over her shoulders. She thought she was… she wasn't sure who she thought she was but she knew she didn't think she was her.

Rogue breathed deep and concentrated on pushing the stray psyche back with the others. He complied willingly. She allowed herself a small smile. She loved cooperative people.

Having won that battle, Rogue got up and didn't bother to straighten her bed. Moving to her dresser, she plucked a pair of brown, leather gloves out of the junk littering its surface and slipped them on. Glancing up, she saw herself in the mirror mounted on top. Grey-green eyes met her instead of brown. Long, dark hair that touched just past her shoulder blades, not short cropped blond. She stepped back and studied her body. It wasn't tanned, lean, and corded with muscles like a whisper in the back of her head told it should be. In place of that was a fit, curved young woman with pale skin standing no taller than 5' 8''. She scowled at her reflection. Maybe that psyche wasn't as compliant as she thought.

Her stomach growled, drawing her attention away from mentally yelling every curse she ever heard Logan say in several languages at the now huddled group of mostly innocent specters in her head. Deciding she could berate them later, she exited her room and strolled to the kitchen to see how much damage Wade had done.

Surprisingly, it was a normal sized mess a normal person would have made under the same circumstances. Wade had everything spread out on the table. He must have Tivo'd Martha Stewart. The only thing that offset this homey little scene was the eleven inch tactical knife protruding out of the pie dish and that Wade was wearing a pink apron that said 'Kiss the Cook' in red letters. Let's consider who lives in this house besides Wade for a moment. The Wolverine. 'Nuff said. And Rogue, the girl with the ability to lay you flat on your back with one touch of her pinkie.

At this point, Wade was crooning 'It Had to Be You' and waltzing with his life-size cut out of Bea Arthur. Rogue tried to sneak a bite of mashed potatoes, but a throwing star had inbedded itself into to the wood in front of her hand. She turned and glared at him. He merely looked back and smiled.

"We can't eat dinner without Jimmy. It's bad manners."

"Since when do you care about manners?"

"Since you're not fulfilling your stereotypical role of a polite, southern belle."

She let out a decidedly unladylike snort and rolled her eyes. She glanced out the window to her left and thought – no, she knew she saw something.

"Wade, there's –, "

"I know," he cut her off sounding absolutely giddy.

She looked back at him and just noticed his twin blades strapped to his back and two large hunting knives tucked in each boot.

"Should I – "

"No need," he opened the fridge and pulled out two handguns and a pair of adamantium armbracers and laid them on the counter. As Rogue started to put the braces on, Wade unsheathed one of his blades, hopped up on the counter next to her, held it up to the light, and sighed.

"It really is a shame, but by the time this is over, the food is going to be stone cold."

"Well maybe ya shoulda let me eat while I had an appetite."

"Oh, hush. I told you it's rude to eat without all the guests. Even if they are uninvited."

Rogue paused in checking her guns. She bit her lip.

"You think they're here for me, you, or Logan?"

He shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. They're not getting any of us."

He put a hand on her shoulder, smiled at her, and hopped off the counter.

"I'm going to get you some more guns. Any requests?"

"Sawed off shotgun, two M16s, a Baretta, a taser, and a rifle with night scope of your choice."

"No problemo."

He walked down the hall and around the corner. A moment later, his head popped back in the room and looked her dead in the eye.

"This is serious, you know? Kill or be killed. You do know that, right?"

"Yeah," she looked down and worried her lip. Kill or be killed. Out of the three of them, that really only applied to her. She looked back up with a grim smile. "I almost feel bad for the poor bastards."

Wade threw back his head and laughed manically. He sent her a wolfish grin.

"That's my girl," he disappeared around the corner once more and started singing Liam Lynch's the Happy Song.

* * *

A/N: I know what I want to do with this story. It's the getting there that bothers me. I wanna rush into it but that'd be lazy. Also, I need pranks. Whatever y'all got. I already got a couple in mind. They involve numbers, messing with people's heads, cold snakes and cameras…

I know at the beginning I told y'all ya didn't have to review. I shouldn't have done that. Y'all are as lazy as I am. I have 295 hits and 10 reviews. About 3%.

I don't like this chapter. I love Wade though.

Can someone explain to me the difference between a 'hit' and a 'visit'?

Anna Marcia Gregorio, you know you rock, right? 'Cuz you do. And as far as Remy goes. I keep tellin' myself 'next chapter' but it don't feel right yet. I don't wanna just randomly throw him in. Be patient but don't get your hopes up for somethin' mind blowingly original.

balletluvmuffin09, well I was whinin' bout nobody questioning my methods but you shut me up. The amount of control she has over her powers will be addressed in a coming confrontation. And as to their badassness: it's Rogue, Wolverine, and Deadpool. Darlin', that goes without sayin'. Thanks for the review.


	5. Past Ties

Disclaimer:……What do you think? Seriously, has anyone actually gotten sued for lack of disclaimer on this site?

* * *

The layout of the Howlett 'ranch' was fairly straightforward. It was a five bedroom, one story house built in an 'L' shape with more square footage than necessary. It was a large wooden structure with a wrap-around porch. This was held up by thick wooden beams, which were really just tree logs stripped of their bark and sanded smooth. The front door was at the base of the small line of the 'L' on the south end, and the back door was at the top of the 'L' on the north. It had no garage. That's what the old barn was used for, thirty yards north of the back door. Woods edged around the north and east ends of the house.

Logan had made it back ten minutes ago and used his time to scout the area. So far, he'd counted twenty-four armed soldiers. It was insulting, really. Only twenty-four. He could take out that many with one arm tied behind his back and blindfolded.

They were split up around the area with three covering the south end, nine on the east side, and six on the west of the house. Six more were 'hidden' around the barn. Of course, they weren't in plain view for anyone from the house unless someone was up on the roof with a night scope mounted on a Bush Master. Which Rogue was if he was catching her scent right.

His grin was absolutely feral. He didn't like the idea of his little girl taking a life, but he was glad that she could and would be able to fend for herself.

As of yet, he hadn't spotted any of the mutant apart of this squad. Maybe they weren't here yet; maybe Victor had caught his scent and was avoiding him. Neither of those made sense, though. They should be here, and Victor would sooner eat his hand than hide from him.

So, they were playing _this_ way. It'd been a while.

Logan dropped down eighteen feet from the tree he was in and landed silently on the ground. He'd caught a scent while he was up there. Smelled like dirt, booze, and blood. Victor.

His nostrils flared as he checked the scent once more before stalking deeper into the woods. Wade and Rogue could handle the others, of that he had no doubt. But Victor was his.

* * *

"Deadpool, I saw Logan. I think he saw me, too, but he turned around and headed into the forest. You copy?" Rogue whispered into the earpiece. She was flat on her belly on top of the roof. The moonless night sky provided great cover for her when she came up through the trap door on the roof.

While Wade had been busy gathering the weapons she asked for and a few she hadn't, Rogue went to her room to change. A custom-made leather jacket with Kevlar lining that didn't inhibit her movements in the slightest, black pants made out of a material she couldn't remember with a lot of pockets that housed several throwing knives, and steel-toed combat boots with shin guards that were surprisingly light and quiet as she walked made up her new ensemble. As far as weapons, she had two handguns, one holstered to her left thigh, another on her right; one hunting knife in her left boot; of course, the rifle; and a katana on her back. Wade had given her an once-over and declared that it would have to do.

"Copy. He probably caught another scent. Most likely the mutants. It better be mutants. No way they sent a bunch of flat-lines by themselves, right? I mean really, twenty-four dudes? I could take that many with a spork and a rusty butter knife," he was mostly talking to himself. He had stayed inside to take care of any 'guests' that wandered in or Rogue missed.

"If there are mutants, how many do you think they sent?"

"This is just a guess, but considering the low number of grunts, I'd say three. Weapon X was always stingy with their 'special' operatives, and I don't imagine that changed. But they're probably like some elite group, you know. They wouldn't waste their time sending in a bunch of yuppies, right? I mean, how insulting would that be!"

Rogue rolled her eyes and adjusted her sights back to the three men in black with grey X's on their uniforms on the south end. Rogue had to admit, she was a little nervous. These guys were trained professionals, did this kind of stuff on the daily. But then, she was trained, too. Just as well, if not better than these guys. Still, she was a rookie and the only person she ever shot was Wade, but that didn't count because he never stayed dead. They would.

"Are you going to be able to take the shot?" he tried to sound concerned, but it didn't work since she could hear him quietly giggle to himself.

"Yeah. I got it," she quietly replied.

"Okay. Take your time and get your aim. Don't forget to – "

"I know. I don't need you to talk me through it. I'd appreciate radio silence for a while. Rogue out."

"Sure thing. Deadpool out."

Rogue breathed deeply in and out, in and out through her nose. There was no wind so that wouldn't be a factor. Just needed to aim and pull the trigger. No biggie.

She looked through her scope and took aim. Breathed in, held it, let it out, and fired. The kickback slammed the butt of the rifle into her shoulder, but she was used to that and it only hurt a little. The normally loud exit of the bullet was muted by the silencer at the end of the barrel. Looking through the scope, Rogue saw blood spurt from the man's head then he collapsed to the ground, vanishing from her sights. She blinked, chambered another round, found her second target, and ended him as neatly as the first. However, at this point, the last had noticed the flash of gunfire and the absence of his comrades. His hand moved toward his ear, possibly to alert the others, but a bullet through the heart halted his movements.

Rogue didn't move for a while. Just laid very still and breathed. She didn't notice her lip was bleeding from when she bit it, hadn't realized she bit it at all. She didn't notice that the voices that had been clamoring in head since she found out they were being watched had quieted after the first shot as if in they were all in a collective state of shock. Or that she was crying.

Suddenly, though, she was aware of this really heavy breathing then realized it was her, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating. She promptly put a stop to that and pulled herself together. After wiping her tears and blood from her face, she activated her earpiece.

"Deadpool, I've got three down. You copy?"

"I hear you. I got six down on the east end, headed to the west. You alright?" the concern did make it through clearly this time as well as the as his excitement over the bloodshed. He knew most people had a problem with killing but didn't really understand. He was probably grinning madly behind his red and black mask.

"I'm fine."

"Where have I heard that before? Hold up."

"Deadpool? Deadpool, respond. Wade, where – "

"Right here."

Rogue jumped and he sat down Indian style next to her.

"I hate when you do that."

"I'm going to ask you this once. Are you going to be able to keep going? If not let me know now."

She sat up and sent him a considering glance. She nodded once.

"Yeah. I can handle it."

"That is such a relief. 'Cuz you really can't quit just now."

"Figured as much."

"Glad you know it. Now, I'm going to handle the guys on the west and show you how a pro gets it done. If you feel the need do toss your cookies, aim to miss me."

"Sure."

He stood up, walked to the edge of the roof, unsheathed one of his blades, and rolled his shoulders.

"Cowabungaaaaaaa!" and took a flying leap off the roof.

Rogue saw the men shoot at him, but it did not hinder him in the least. The wounds that were inflicted on him healed quickly enough for them to be ignored. Deadpool quickly and efficiently tore through each man. So what if there was an extra flourish or an added pirouette. Deadpool liked to put on a show. The six heavily-armed men were taken down by one man with a katana.

He crouched down to clean his blade on one of the corpses then called over his shoulder to Rogue.

"You can come down. People are dead now."

She jumped off, too, and landed in a crouch.

"What about the guys at the barn?" she asked.

He waved away her concerns.

"Easy. We'll just – "

He stopped talking when a knife pierced his skull and he slumped to the ground. Rogue hesitated and was slammed against the house by a wall of water that formed into a ball around her, trapping her. A kid in his late teens swaggered out of the woods, the smirk on his face entirely too confident. He was wearing a dark blue uniform that looked like a wetsuit with combat boots, a pair of red goggles was over his dark eyes, and his black hair was teased up in spikes. His skin was a light blue and translucent to the point his veins could be seen through his skin. His arms extended in front of him were water themselves and supplied the bubble Rogue was trapped in.

"Man, the way Kestrel was talkin', I thought this would be hard."

"Don't let your guard down yet, Washout."

A woman a few years older than him followed. She had short cropped pink hair and was taller than the boy by a head. She wore a black leather uniform strategically ripped in places to allowing the bones that protruded from her tanned skin to be seen. Her eyes were yellow and there was bone around them.

"We still have to get Weapon X."

"Sabertooth got it, chica. Relax."

Marrow heaved a disgusted sigh and shook her head.

Rogue was at first inclined to panic. She was trapped in a bubble, who wouldn't? But it had been pounded into her skull not to. So she sized up her situation quickly while she still had air. Two hostile mutants, one ally down, and she was stuck in a bubble. Logan was off somewhere so he didn't count and did that kid say Sabertooth? Those weren't going to be seen for a while. So it was up to her. Or rather, it was up to an old friend, Cole MacGrath. If she could have sighed she would have. This was going to hurt.

Rogue closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened her eyes again, she was in her mindscape. All around her, everything was dark except for what appeared to be stars high above her. She looked up to them and reached out to them.

"Cole."

One of the 'stars' floated down to her. The orb in front of her sparked and crackled with a white energy. Then there was a flash. When the light faded, there was a bald man in front of her. He had a nice face and wore a yellow jacket, grey cargo pants, and had a messenger bag slung across his shoulders. Rogue still held her bare hand out to him. Her hands were always bare in her head. He willingly took it.

When Rogue opened her eyes, white electricity sparked from her eyes. She directed it from her hands towards her captor and braced herself for the pain. She built the charge up inside her body then shot it out. The water carried the current directly to its intended victim. The stream of water was cut off as Washout cried out and his body jerked and spasmed. The jolt was enough to send him flying back, and he was laid out sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Of course, this method was a two edged sword. Electricity and water mixed: never a good idea. Rogue, herself, received a powerful shock through to her system that laid her flat on her back, gasping for air. However, with these powers, she was able to take the charge into her body. She quickly jumped to her feet and dodged as a bone blade went through the air where her head had been.

"Careful, now. The director prefers this one alive," the voice belonged to a dark skinned man sitting on the porch in one of the rocking chairs. He had his cowboy boots propped up on the wooden rail and a cowboy hat pulled low over his brown eyes.

Rogue glanced at him, startled. _"When did he get there?"_

" Oh, don't worry 'bout me, baby girl. I'm just supervisin' the rookies," he said with a nod towards his team.

Well, that was good to know. Most likely wouldn't be the case after she took Marrow out though. She looked back at her. This needed to be done fast. She wasn't sure how long she could hold Cole's powers before she had to let it go.

A four foot long bone slid out of the girl's hand. Marrow twirled the staff with a flourish then rushed her. Rogue didn't bother to move. She just raised a hand and fired a lightning bolt at her. It hit Marrow, and the girl staggered but kept charging. Rogue tilted her head and raised a brow. That had juice enough to put down an elephant.

"_A healing factor maybe? Damn."_

Well, that just meant she could do lethal damage without it bothering her conscience. She smiled and held up both hands and a shockwave launched itself from her palms. It blasted Marrow off her feet at least twelve feet into the air. While she was still floating, Rogue tossed a sticky grenade at her. Marrow landed on the ground with a thud. She raised herself up and frowned at the sparking orb on her pant leg.

"What is this su – "

BOOM

She was once again blasted into the air. She didn't move at first when she landed so Rogue decided to get this over with. She sauntered over to the girl's prone figure and peered down at her singed form and wrinkled her nose. The smell of burnt flesh was nauseating. Suddenly, the girl's hand wrapped around Rogue's ankle, and she yelped in surprise but managed to kick her hand away and shoot with another lightning bolt. While the girl was on the ground writhing in pain, Rogue bumped her fist together drawing a stream of electricity from them and zapped the girl with it. White energy rings formed around her wrists, ankles, neck, and waist, pinning her to the ground. She struggled but it was useless. She was going nowhere anytime soon.

"Whoo! All right! You go, girl!" was followed by a wolf whistle. Rogue spun on her heel, arms raised but dropped them when she saw Deadpool sitting on the porch rail next to Kestrel both with a beer in hand.

"How long have you been standin' there?"

Deadpool looked at Kestrel.

"Uh, just before the grenade thing, right, John?"

Kestrel nodded.

"'Bout right."

"That was hilarious. Did you see her face? She was all – "

"Excuse me, but it didn't occur to you to help me?"

"No. You didn't need me. You took out a water spout and homicidal, psycho chick all by yourself. I'm so proud of you!"

Rogue's gaze slid to Kestrel.

"What about him?"

"Who, John? He's just supervising. He's not supposed to engage the target in a fight by direct order of the director under threat of severe punishment."

Kestrel looked at Deadpool, surprised.

"You actually listened when they talked?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Why do I feel like I'm missin' somethin' here?" Rogue basically asked herself.

"Hey, um, Kestrel?"

He looked at her with a smile.

"Yes, Honey?"

She arched a brow and planted a fist on her hip.

"First off, the name is Rogue."

Deadpool leaned over and stage whispered to Kestrel.

"She's very touchy about her name."

She ignored him.

"Secondly, who else is on this lil' team of yours?"

"What you see and Sabertooth."

"Oh, bloody Mary. Seriously? Dude, this sucks. They're going to be going at it for days," Deadpool whined.

"Do you have a trace on him or somethin'?"

"Yup. And you know, since I'm not supposed to fight with y'all, I couldn't really stop you if Wade took this GPS out my hand," he held a small device in front of Deadpool's face.

Deadpool did so and exclaimed, "Hey, they're only twelve miles away! We can get the ATVs and be there in a couple minutes. Come on, let's go drag Jimmy away from Vicky before they break the forest," he hopped down and walked around the corner.

"Why are you bein' so helpful to us?"

"Me and your boys, we go way back."

"What about Victor? Didn't all of you work together?"

He snorted at that.

"I wouldn't throw a bucket of spit on him if he was on fire."

Gunfire could be heard from around the house for about two minutes before it stopped and the roar of engines started.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

He smiled at her, and his white teeth contrasted against his dark mahogany skin.

"You're right about that, ma'am."

"I hate when you people answer me without answerin' me."

Deadpool came zooming around the corner on two wheels and stopped three feet in front of Rogue.

"Come on. We've got to go, go, go.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'," she jogged past him and around the corner to the barn.

"I like her," Kestrel stated.

"Yeah. But she kind of reminds you of someone, doesn't she?" Deadpool gave him a pointed look.

"Mm. Do not even go there."

"Hey, I didn't. You and Jimmy did though."

"Shut up," he chuckled.

Rogue came and parked her ATV next to Deadpool's. She pushed the visor of her helmet up.

"Are we goin' or did you two want to sit and have tea, reminiscin' over the old days?"

The men looked at each other.

"That is just plain freaky."

"I hear you. See you later, John. Oh, by the by, there's food in the kitchen. Feel free to help yourself," Deadpool revved the engine and sped off across the clearing headed west with Rogue following. She glanced behind her at Kestrel. He raised his hand in salute, she blinked and then he was gone. Just completely gone. She sped up until she was next to Deadpool.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Rogue called to him over the engine noise.

"Relax. John's good people. Unless you're on the other team. He's downright vicious then."  
"We are on the other team."

"Oh, yeah," he got quiet.  
"Well?"

"Weeeell," he drawled," we're either better friends than I thought or we're going to get royally screwed."

"Fan-freakin'-tastic."

* * *

A/N: Forgive me if my gun terminology is incorrect. Please tell me what y'all think of the fight scenes. On a scale of one to ten, I give myself a three point two. Does anyone else think the way I described Marrow sucked bean and eggs through a straw raw? I don't even know why I picked her anymore.

For the fight scene, I want your brutal honesty on this people. I do not like it at all. I was told to post it when it made me happy ( thanks to mysterygurl13) but it is just so blah to me. If it seems rushed, it probably is. I just wanted it done so I could move on. And I still have to do Logan's. Ugh

The process where Rogue recalls other powers does not take as long as it does for me to describe it. It's pretty short, actually.

I graduated on May 15th. It was so fun.

May16th: I had a chicken chimichanga. It was good. Not obsession worthy.

I don't own Infamous. I used to but I beat it and took it to GameStop. Pretty fun.

Thank y'all to everyone who reviewed the other chapters.

And eww. Wade seems normal near the end.

I actually don't like this chapter at all. Also, I didn't proofread this. Word says its 9 pages. If I messed somethin up let me know.


	6. Can't We All Just Get Along?

It didn't take Deadpool and Rogue long to find Wolverine and Sabertooth. Even without the GPS, they could have just followed the trail of claw marks, fallen trees, and blood. The Fuzzy Twins were currently gutting each other in a clearing that they made themselves. They just watched for a few minutes with Deadpool quietly giggling.

"How are we supposed to separate them?"

"Dang, you're right. I totally forgot the spray bottle."

"Deadpool, this is serious. Your 'friend' said he wouldn't fight us. He never said anythin' 'bout callin' for reinforcements. Or his boss could call and change his mind."

"True. Hmm. So a bazooka is out right?"

"…"

"Well, what do you want me to do? If I get in it, it's just going to be all three of us cutting each other up because they're both going to be mad at me for interrupting their duel to the death. You're going to have to take Vicky out then we'll get out of here."

She sighed and climbed off her ATV.

"Yeah, whatever. Just catch me when I faint."

"Always."

She walked forward a few feet and focused inward. She watched carefully for an opening that wouldn't fry Wolverine too. Sabertooth lunged at Wolverine. Wolverine was too slow to dodge and found himself embedded in a tree.

That would work. Rogue raised her hands and felt the energy spark up her arms into the sky. An instant later, lightning danced across the night, illuminating them clearly. Sabertooth saw her and charged.

"Anytime you're ready there, Roguey," Deadpool felt the need to let her know.

She waited until he was halfway to her before she brought her hands down. A huge flow of lightning followed her command in a dance of energy and thunder, striking her target. Sabertooth roared in pain and fury as his body convulsed and he fell to the ground. Rogue stopped her onslaught. Panting, she looked over her shoulder at Deadpool.

"And that is how it's done," she told him and then passed out. Deadpool caught her just before she hit the ground and carried her bridal style over to Wolverine, giving Sabertooth's crater a wide berth. He walked up to Wolverine who was on the ground, semi-conscious and kicked him, hard.

"Yo. Logan, get up."

He grunted as he staggered to his feet as his wounds vanished. He snarled when he saw Rogue's limp figure in Deadpool's arms and tried to go past him to get to Sabertooth, but Deadpool stopped him.

"This is as much your fault as his. She did this so we could get out of here before Kestrel's back up arrives."

Wolverine snorted.

"Yeah, I know we could take them. But we have Rogue now. I don't want to risk her. If you want to stay, be my guest."

He turned and walked away. Wolverine hesitated a moment then followed. He growled at Sabertooth as he passed and couldn't help but feel proud when he saw his body twitch. Deadpool was already on his ATV with Rogue situated in front of him and looked at Wolverine who nodded back to him and wiped the blood on his hands on his jeans before gripping the bars and started off towards home.

They circled around to the north, stopped a half mile into the trees, and dismounted. They walked into an abandoned shack that wasn't bothered to be kept locked. It was just that nasty in there that anyone who stayed in there was clearly desperate. Wolverine pulled up a floor board at the back and opened the hatch underneath, walking down the metal stairs into the tunnel that was immediately lit up with the automated lights Rogue had insisted they install. They hadn't dug the tunnel themselves. Just figured it was used for the Underground Railway way back when.

He sniffed around a bit before calling to Deadpool.

"Looks clear."

He walked quickly, and they continued on in silence until they came to a fork in the tunnel. The left would lead them to garage. Going right led to Wade's room/ the armory. They went left.

"You take care of the guards on the barn?"

"Of course. Just what do take me for?"

Wolverine smirked at him.

"You really want me to answer that?"

"Naw. They're weren't any more inside when we went through, but Kestrel could have called more corpses. He's working with Marrow and a water boy as supervisor."

"Cushy."

"Tell me about it."

They got to the stair case and Wolverine went up first. He barely opened the hatch and winced when it squeaked and sent an accusing glare at Deadpool who was looking the other way. He opened it all the way and stepped into the stable inside the barn. Sniffing the air and keeping an ear out for any sound that didn't belong, he found it to be clear and signaled for Deadpool to follow. They both quickly walked to the back of the barn to an extended cab truck with three bikes stowed in the bed. Wolverine unlocked the door and opened it so Deadpool could put Rogue inside. He gently laid her across the back seat.

"You think the director would have us covered better than this. It's really very insulting how little he thinks of us."

"Colcord's not in charge anymore."

"Seriously? Well, that explains it. The new guy doesn't know what he's doing."

He went to another part of the barn, pulled six bags out of a fire-proof trunk, tossed one to Wolverine who dug some new clothes out, and stowed the others in the truck. Wolverine quickly discarded his shredded scraps and changed into another pair of jeans with a flannel shirt he didn't bother to button before climbing in and starting the engine. Deadpool went to the barn doors and pushed them open, stepping out with his hand on his katana. Surprisingly, he signaled an all clear and Wolverine accelerated.

Deadpool jumped on to the side rail as the truck went past, scanning the area. He looked back and saw Kestrel sitting on the roof and couldn't help but give him the one finger salute. Kestrel raised a hand in acknowledgement. Deadpool stayed where he was until the truck made it to the main highway out of town, though he was sure there were a few times when Wolverine tried to get rid of him.

"That went well," he commented after he climbed in through the window and pulled the red and black mask off.

Logan raised a brow and looked at him and Wade wasn't sure if he got the looks from Rogue or Rogue got them from him.

"Ya didn't hear that?"

"Uh, no. The mad scientists were just trying to give me your healing factor, not your mad, crazy hearing."

"Kestrel blew up the house."

"…"

"He had to make it look like he at least tried to do something."

"Crap on a stick. I really liked that house."

"Yeah."

Logan drove through town at the speed limit though he was tempted to just screw it and put the pedal to the metal. But he didn't need to draw any undo attention to them. They finally made it to the interstate before Wade opened his mouth.

"How did you know Colcord was gone?"

"I got a visit from Fury."

"Huh."

And that was it. He turned and looked out the window Logan glanced at him. It wasn't normal for Wade to be this quiet. Not that he was complaining, but it just wasn't natural. They rode north in silence for a half hour before Wade spoke, which Logan would never admit he was glad for.

"Where are we going now?"

"I don't know."

"How open are you to suggestions?"

"Depends on how stupid it is."

"Westchester, New York."

"Why?" Logan eyed him suspiciously. "What's in Westchester?"

"A school."

"What about it?"

"It's for mutants. The guy actually said 'gifted youngster'. What a geezer."

"What guy?"

"The guy on the phone."

He just gave Wade a blank look.

Wade sighed liked he was being very put out.

"Like a week or two months ago, this professor guy called about his 'institute for gifted youngsters'. He wanted to talk to you, but you weren't around, and Rogue was… it was _that_ time so I felt it best not to bother her. So I just told the guy we'd get call him back if we were interested. But he called during a Golden Girls marathon so I forgot until just now."

Logan just stared at him.

"He was on the news the other day about equal rights for mutants and stuff. He's on the news a lot actually."

"…"

"So he seems like a guy who would have a problem with turning away three homeless, 'gifted' people. So we can stay there…If that's okay with you…I need you to acknowledge me or I'm not going to shut up. Jiiimmy."

"All right, Wade!"

"All right, Wade what?"

"We're goin' to New York."

"That's not what I wanted to hear, and you know it."

Logan sighed deep from his soul.

"Ya did a good job. Now shut 'til I say otherwise or I am throwin' ya out this truck."

Wade made a motion of zipping his mouth shut and locking and handing Logan the key. Logan just looked at him then back at the road. Wade shrugged put the key in his pocket and started humming 'On the Road Again'. Logan scrubbed a hand down his face and hoped Rogue would wake up soon. She could handle him so much better than him.

* * *

A/N: Should Gambit be a bad guy or a good guy? I have my mind made up (mostly) regardless unless someone comes up with a good reason to change it. Just hit the button and type it in real quick. Good or bad. And hey, while you're there, you might as well give me some feedback on this chapter.

Shortest chapter so far.


	7. Three's Company

"Wake up. Hey, wake up, will ya?"

Rogue groaned and rolled over. She really did not want to do this now. Being unconscious was so much better than being in her subconscious, but the gruff voice was insistent. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and glared half-heartedly at the man in front of her. He ignored her look though and made sure she was okay.

"You were in there pretty deep this time. You have to be careful whose psyche you tap for power. Not all of them are as nice as me."

"I know. Stop with the fussin' already. I'm fine."

The two figures stood out against the black expanse. There were stars high above them that cast much more light than they should, easily illuminating them.

"Well, you're as irritable as ever so you must be fine," he told her cheekily.

Up above, one of the stars fell and just missed them on the landing. The stars were actually the psyches of people Rogue had absorbed. She was never able to separate them completely from her but had managed a way to keep them from directly influencing her for the most part. However, they could still whisper and talk to her. After all, one can't stop voices from the sky.

"Uh oh," They were supposed to stay up there unless Rogue called them. Randomly falling from the sky of her mindscape was a definite no-no.

Fortunately, this psyche was one of the weaker personalities she had. A stunning red head, Mary Jane Watson-Parker was one of the great stage actresses of the time. Rogue had dragged Logan and Wade to see her show. Wade had conceded that she was `hot but she's not Bea Arthur'. Logan sat quietly through the whole thing, not commenting one way or the other. Wade had told her later that he secretly loved. Logan had a thing for red heads. Although she wasn't a major threat, she wasn't supposed to be falling all willy nilly.

"M.J," Rogue reached her bare hand out to help her up.

"Rogue, hey, sorry about that. I don't know what happened. One minute, I'm there, the next I'm here."

"Don't worry. It's not your fault. I'm gonna put you back so don't fight me, all right?"

"No problem."

Rogue held both of M.J.'s hands in hers. There was a bright light and M.J. disappeared in it. In her place was a glowing orb, a 'star', that Rogue held in her hands. She flicked her wrists and sent the orb back with the rest. She turned to Cole.

"You're turn."

"Oh, joy."

She held her hands out.

"It's not that bad."

He hesitated.

"It's not bad, but it's not great either," he slipped her smaller hands into his.

She smirked at him.

"Men are such babies." (1)

She was over and done with him before she had finished blinking. It was so much easier to deal with the psyches she had used repeatedly. She gazed up at the 'stars' a moment more before she turned and went through the door that led to her consciousness, effectively waking herself up.

* * *

"Pull over," was the first thing out of Rogue's mouth upon waking. Logan knew from experience to do just that. He cut off a guy in a Prius who, in his opinion, had no business on the road, period, and stopped on the shoulder of the interstate. Rogue stumbled out of the truck down the incline a ways, her way illuminated by the dome lights from the truck, and knelt down. A moment later, she violently deposited her lunch. After a few more dry heaves, Rogue was left trembling and shaking. A water bottle was pressed into her hand by Logan who had been carefully holding her hair back. She took a mouthful of it, swished it around, then spit it back out.

"How you feelin'?"

She opened her mouth to respond.

"And do not tell me 'fine'".

And shut it.

He raised a brow.

"Well?"

She floundered for a reply, since Logan just denied her default response.

"I'm great."

He considered a moment, concern evident on his face.

He sighed and helped her stand.

"We need to work on expanding your vocabulary," he told her.

"Ha. 'Cuz you're one to talk, bub," she mocked him.

"Ya know," he commented as he assisted her back up the incline," there are people who hate my guts who show me more respect than you do."

"True," she climbed back in her seat," but would ya rather be respected or loved?"

So saying, she slammed the door and laid back down, waking Wade in the process.

He snapped awake, guns cocked in both hands, looking around frantically.

"Relax," he turned in his seat and pointed them at her,

"It's just me," she assured him calmly.

"Yeah, sure. That's what you want me to think. And then when I think it's you, and turn around, I'm gonna find out that it's not you when I get shot it the back of the head nine times with electrified bullets!" he ranted.

Logan came around and opened his door, climbing back in the driver's seat. Needless to say, he was not pleased to have a gun barrel in his face.

"Wade, what are ya doin'?"

"He's goin schitzo, that's what he's doin'."

Logan looked at him.

"Wade,"

"Jimmy. If that is your real name."

"who do you think I am?"

"I think you might be Jimmy. But I could be wrong. You could be Copy Cat."

"Vanessa's dead, Wade."

He blinked, slowly coming back to himself.

"Nessie's dead…Right. I knew that. I was there. That was a long time ago wasn't it?"

"Yeah. It was."

Logan pulled back out onto the interstate and they travelled in silence for a few miles until he spotted a road sign for hotels up ahead and decided to pull in to one for the night. Truth be told, he was exhausted, Rogue wasn't driving because in the condition she was in, she was liable to fall asleep at the wheel, and there was no way he was letting Wade behind the wheel.

* * *

After checking in, Logan handed the key to Wade to unlock the door to their room as he went to the truck to grab the bags. Walking in, he saw Wade sprawled face first on the bed closest to the door, snoring.

"He's adorable when he's like that, isn't he?" Rogue said from her perch on the other bed.

"If `adorable' means tolerable and `that' means unconscious, then sure."

He shut and locked the door and piled the bags onto the small table.

"What're we gonna do?" she whispered, but Logan still heard her clearly.

"Right now, you're gonna go shower. You smell terrible."

"I stank? I'm not the one covered in blood."

He smiled at her.

"Would ya believe most of it's not mine?"

She smirked at him.

"I doubt that, seein' as how when we found ya, ya were gettin' very intimate with a pine tree."

"Ha ha. Just go, Stripes."

She sighed, stood up, and began removing her weapons. After five minutes of struggling and cursing under her breath, Rogue walked over to Logan and pushed her arms in his face.

"Do this for me," she told him with this look on her face that just reminded him of when she was a kid, and he couldn't help himself.

"What's the magic word?"

That got him a small, tired smile.

"Three."

He complied, working quickly on the straps and buckles. Seeing as this was going to take a few minutes, Rogue decided to go ahead and question him now.

"Where are we goin'?"

"Westchester, New York."

She raised a brow, surprised at his ready answer.

"What's so special 'bout Westchester?" she slipped the left brace off and laid it on the table.

"There's a professor there with a school for mutants. He teaches kids how to use their powers."  
"Well, that's awful bold of him."

"But no one knows kids are mutants."

"Ah. So we're just gonna hide out with this guy or what? And how do we know this guy's legit?"

"If this is the guy I think it is, we'll be fine."

He finished with the last strap and placed it next to its twin.

"Ya know him?" she asked through a yawn.

"I think so. It's been a while though."

"Do ya trust this guy?"

"He is one of the very few people, yeah."

"Good enough for me."

She reached across him to the table, plucked up her purple bag, and walked into bathroom, tossing her leather jacket and gloves onto the bed as she went by.

Logan leaned back in the couch and considered his plan. Once they made it to Xavier's, they should be safe. Rogue had asked if he trusted him. He had answered truthfully. Charles had helped years ago, after he had gotten away from Weapon X, helped him get his mind right. He owed the man his life, in a way. And then he'd taken off. He'd figured he still owed Charles for that and could rectify that debt when he met up with him again.

However, he wasn't even sure if Charles would let them stay. Sure, he was a good guy with this dream of mutants being equal with and accepted by humans, and it was very noble what he was doing with those kids, but come on. Who in there right mind would take in an ex-government soldier with a violent temper and six claws coming out of his hands, his daughter with an even worse temper with extensive knowledge in weaponry and a somewhat unstable mutation, and Wade. He would have to be completely out his ever-lovin' mind. Then again, there was that whole 'help mutants' thing he was so set on. And Logan didn't see how he would be able to turn Rogue away, she was really just a kid, after all.

Logan scratched the back of his neck in irritation. The way he saw it, there was a thirty-seventy percent chance against them. In the likely event that this didn't work out, he had already come up with a Plan B. It was very simple.

Step 1: Drop Rogue off with Tony for safe keeping.

Step 2: Take Wade and track down Weapon X facilities. All of them.

Step 3: Leave no one alive.

Step 4: Destroy facilities.

There were several cons to this seemingly simple plan.

1: Leaving Rogue anywhere on her own was a terrible idea. She will not appreciate the attempt to keep her safe and argue that she is trained enough to handle it with them. There will be a fight. She might cry… and then stab him. Ultimately, they'll have to keep her drugged the whole time, chain her to the walls, keep her under constant watch or all three. And when or if they came back, she probably still would have managed to get away.

2: It might very well take years to find all of the Weapon X bases. With Wade. 'Nuff said.

3: While he was very skilled at it, he did not enjoy killing people. Unless it was Victor or someone else who really deserved it.

4: There was the possibility that they could fail. They would either get captured or be killed. Granted, they would make it very hard for them and take out as many as they could. They were not the only mutants who worked for Weapon X. There were several that could be lethal to them even with their healing factors. If either of these possibilities became a reality, Weapon X would go after Rogue, taking out anyone in its way.

Or they could keep running. Yeah, that'll happen.

No, the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of staying at Xavier's better. He didn't think of it as hiding. More like strategic seclusion. Yeah.

* * *

"Wade! Would you wake up already? Get up!" Rogue yelled at his prone, unresponsive figure curled up on the bed. Deciding yelling and hitting weren't enough, she tried to yank the covers off of him, but he had this freakishly strong grip on them. She stopped pulling when she heard the fabric rip.

"Honestly, the things I have to put up with," she muttered to herself as she looked around the room for something to wake him up with. They were trying to lay low so shooting him was out. She could cut him, but it probably wouldn't even register. Then she spotted the ice bucket. That would do. She picked it up, walked over to the sink, and filled just shy of the brim. She walked back to the bed with a devious grin and dumped it on his head. He jumped out of the bed, sputtering, and giving Rogue an eyeful. Apparently sometime last night, he had gotten up to bathe then crawled back into the covers because he was wearing a pair of Daffy Duck boxers.

"Why would you do that?" he demanded.

She smirked at him.

"Logan's ready to go," she told him and pointed at some clothes she'd laid out for him on the table.

"Get dressed. We'll be waitin' in the truck," she turned around, walked to the door and paused.

"Oh, ya might wanna hurry before the chimichangas get cold," then closed the door firmly behind her and headed to the truck. She walked to the truck and opened the front door and climbed in.

"Where are my chimichangas, girl?" Wade asked her from the backseat as he buttoned his shirt.

Rogue laughed as Logan pulled out of the parking lot. She reached down to the floorboard, grabbed a greasy bag from the Mexican restaurant down the road and handed it back to Wade who accepted them gleefully.

"How long is it gonna take to get to New York?" Rogue asked over Wade's moaning. The boy was excited about his food, okay?

"We made good time last night, so 'bout three hours."

"You sure we gonna be safe there?"

He looked at her.

"Rogue. No matter where we are, no matter what, I promise to make sure you are safe. You understand?"

She leaned over, put her gloved hand on his cheek, and kissed it.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Aaaww!" Wade cooed around a mouthful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Rogue admonished him.

Wade swallowed, but he did it wrong and started gagging and coughing. He calmly Heimlich maneuvered himself with the air of one who had done this before and spit the food up back into his mouth. He thoroughly chewed this time before swallowing.

"That is – was so sweet! Look at Jimmy being all protective daddy. Roguey, I pity any future boyfriends you're going to have."

"Like I'm gonna ever get a boyfriend."

"Why wouldn't you?" Wade asked in between bites.

"Let's look at the facts, shall we? One, my skin is deadly. Ain't no boy in his right mind gonna go for a girl he can't touch."

"Easy enough. You get a crazy guy!" he laughed at that, and even Logan smirked.

"Second, You two."

"You mean Logan," Wade told her. She turned in her seat to look at him.

"No. I mean Logan and Wade."

"Me?" he pointed to himself, actually pulling off innocent as he took another bit of his fifth rolled tortilla.

"Yeah, you. And don't act all innocent. Or don't you remember Disney Land?"

He started giggling. The giggling worked its way up to full blown, maniacal laughter. When he stopped, he had to wipe tears from his eyes as he caught his breath. He cleared his throat and looked her in her eyes, dead serious.

"I don't know what you could possibly be referring to."

"Sure, you don't," she turned back around.

"What did happen?" Logan asked.

Wade leaned forward and poked his head between the seats with a crazed grin on his face.

"You really want to know?" he asked, creepily.

"Ya know what, I actually don't."

* * *

A/N: Read Adventures in Disney. Review Adventures in Disney. Do it NOW! I have to do another version of that 'cuz there is an aspect of it that is inspired by Ed of Cowboy Bebop that I forgot 'til just now. I don't know when I'm gonna do it though. Probably the next time I procrastinate on finishin' a chapter. IDK. I can't believe I told you people (What do you mean 'you people'? LOL) not to review first chapter. I totally take it back. If you didn't review that chapter, go back and do it…please. If you did, thank you very much.

(1)Anastacia quote from the movie and it is **so** true!

Who can guess who Tony is?

Thank you cards suck. Fortunately, I have a small social circle.

This story is really just a bunch of general vague ideas with a few very, amazing incredible scenes here and there that I'm trying to string together to make sense and entertain. Y'all's input really helps me get where I wanna be with it, faster.

**To borderjumperdontdeportmehaha**: First off, long aspen name. Second thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you like it. I completely didn't even notice that Rogue and Logan hadn't spoken to each other. That was unintentional and careless on my part. I don't think it's necessary to emphasize that Logan and Wade have killed before and will so do it again if need be. I'm not sure, but it might be possible to make a character too awesome. However, this fic seems to want to focus on three characters so extreme awesomeness and maximum levels of kick buttness on their part is totally acceptable. As for the Romy, I had actually intended for it to be such, but it's not gonna be like overwhelming, I don't think. And I like your idea of him as good/bad. That is gettin' jacked. May or may not be for this story though. Also, throw a period in there next time, huh? About the Thieves Guild, uh no.

Once again, thanks to **everyone who reviewed**.

Is Wade too crazy (as if), not crazy enough, or just the right amount of crazy?

Has anyone noticed that in the old X Men cartoon from the 90's, the guys had like, eight packs? And everyone in the 'T'ieves' Guild had these ugly green trenchcoats. I'm not even gonna go there with the Assassins, but who told them that was a good idea? And there were a lot of random moments in the Phoenix Saga that make it funny 'cuz it's suppose to be so serious?


	8. A Father, a Daughter, and Wade

WARNING: Filler chapter. Nothing happens. Nothing all that interesting anway.

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every chapter? Seriously?

* * *

"We should be pullin' up in about fifteen minutes," Logan said, breaking the silence in the truck.

It was quiet because Logan didn't usually talk much anyway, Rogue was still drained from using her powers to such an extent, and Wade was watching Golden Girls on his MP3.

Rogue turned behind her to address Wade.

"Yo," she waved a hand in front of his face and he blinked at it then looked up at her, earphones still in his ears.

"Take them out," she told him.

He shook his head 'no'.

"Look, I realize you're havin' a moment back there and all, but I need to talk to you before we get there."

She knew he couldn't hear her, but Wade could read lips. However, she knew he wouldn't pay attention to her when she was competing with Bea Arthur. With a soul-deep sigh, he removed the earpieces and paused the monitor.

"Now when we get to this school, ya have to behave yaself."

He actually looked genuinely confused.

"What do you mean? I always act like myself."

"What she means, Wade, is that ya can't kill anyone," Logan said.

"What? Why not?"

"Uh, 'cuz it's a school. You're not gonna need to kill anyone. Unless Weapon X or somebody shows up."

"Well, duh."

"Can ya just try to be good, just for a lil' while?"

"Anything for you, Roguey."

"And the same goes for you, Daddy dearest."

He chuckled.

"Of course, darlin'."

Not long afterwards, the truck pulled up to a gate, and Logan rolled down his window.

"Welcome to Xavier's Mad House. How may I be of service?" a boy's voice rang out over the intercom.

"Roberto! Stop playing with the intercom," a girl's voice scolded.

"Hi. Sorry about that. Um, what did you, like, need?"

"I'm here to see Charles."

"Who? Oh, you mean the professor. No problem."

The gate slid open, and the truck pulled forward.

"So what? They just let anyone come in here if they say that they're here to see somebody?" Wade mused aloud.

"Charles is a powerful telepath. He probably already knows we're here and told the kid to let us in."

"I didn't hear him say anything," Wade contradicted.

"Maybe 'cuz he told her…telepathically?"

"Oh."

"Sugar, I'm thinkin' ya should just not talk."

"Yeah, right. The only way that'll happen is if you sew my mouth shut. Hmm…"

As Wade speculated on this, Logan pulled the truck to a stop in front of the mansion. Rogue looked at it in disbelief.

"This is a school? Just what does this guy do for a living?"

"Obviously, Roguey, he's a drug lord," Wade informed her.

Logan rolled his eyes

"No, he's not."

"Then where does he get the money for this? Oh, I know! He uses his tele-whatever to get people to give him money and stuff! It's brilliant," he said as he followed them out of the truck to the front door. They rang the door bell, and it was answered by a teenage girl who had her brown hair up in a ponytail.

She smiled at them.

"Hi. I'm Kitty. The professor is already expecting you so if you just follow me," she looked at them curiously as she backed into the foyer.

Rogue glanced at Logan and Wade, who was surprisingly silent then looked at Kitty.

"Thanks," she told her, following her in. "I'm Rogue, and this is Logan and Wade."

"Cool. This way," she turned and they trailed her down a hallway to the left of a huge staircase. They passed a vase that Wade found to be so fascinating he had to tell Rogue about it.

"This dude has serious money," he leaned down to whisper to her, "Like coming out the wazoo."

"What was your first clue?" she muttered sarcastically.

"He has a Ming dynasty vase in the middle of a school for destructive delinquents."

"What makes ya thing it's Ming?"

"Only a Ming could be that ugly," he stated matter-of-factly.

They followed Kitty until she literally walked through a pair of double doors.

The three looked at each other.

"So, do we go through it like that or is she coming back or…?"

She opened them a moment later with a sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry about that. Come on in."

She stepped aside and let them pass. Through the doors was a large office. The left and right walls were bookcases with couches near them. Directly in front of them were two chairs situated before a large wooden desk where a bald man sat before a floor to ceiling window that made up the last wall.

"Logan. It has been long time, old friend," the man held out his hand to him.

"Long enough for you to lose your hair, Charles," he replied, shaking his hand.

Smiling, Charles shook his head then his gaze landed on the newcomers.

"Blunt as ever. Were you planning on making an introduction any time soon?"

Logan grunted.

"Sure. Rogue, this is Professor Charles Xavier. Charles, this is Rogue, my kid."

The professor raised a brow at that.

"Nice to meet ya, sir," Rogue greeted him, feeling slightly nervous.

He smiled kindly at her.

"Likewise, my dear," he leaned forward, a pondering expression on his face. "Are you sure that he is your father? You've shown you have more manners than him in one sentence than in all the years I've known him."

She laughed, starting to relax a bit.

"All I can go by is what they tell me."

"Of course."

"And that," he gestured vaguely at Wade," is Wade."

Wade nodded in a 'wassup' manner. Charles nodded in a more refined manner.

"Hello. Now, Logan, not that I'm not happy to see you and meet your daughter and…Wade, I'm curious to know what brought you here," he addressed him, folding his hands and resting his chin on them, obviously expecting a good story.

"Do ya want the version you wanna hear or the truth?"

"I think the truth will be far more interesting than anything you could come up with." (I just ended a sentence with a preposition.)

"Right. Well, short version, recently, those guys from before attacked us at our home and blew it up. So we need a place to stay for a while."

Rogue looked at him sideways. Even Wade was giving him a 'Dude…Seiously?' look. Even that small amount of information was way too much information

"I see," though he really didn't. " Were there casualties?"

Logan looked to Wade and Rogue. He had been fighting Victor the whole time so he wasn't sure.

"Well, duh."

The professor looked concerned at this. Whether it was from the deaths, or the nonchalance that it was spoken, they weren't sure.

"It was us or them, sir," Rogue felt the need to defend herself. He looked at her then.

"Yes, Miss Howlett, I'm sure it was," he looked up at Logan with an unreadable expression. "It was Weapon X?" he asked.

Logan nodded.

"You will understand if I need some time to think over your request?"

"Of course."

"Good, good. Now, in the mean time, I'll have one of the students show you to your guest rooms."

As if on cue, the door opened and a tall, purple haired woman with Asian features in her early twenties stepped in and glanced at the guests curiously before addressing the professor.

"Yes, Professor?" her voice had a definite British accent to it.

"Elizabeth, I'd like you to meet Logan, Rogue, and Wade. Would you mind escorting them to the guest rooms on the east end?" he asked her as if she actually had a choice. It is so annoying when people make commands questions. I mean you really just can't go, 'Yes, I would mind. It'd be best if you got someone else to do it.' I'm gonna stop now 'cuz this isn't supposed to be that kind of story where the authoress goes off on a tangent in the middle of the story but I HATE that. It makes me itch.

She smiled.

"Not at all. Come along," she turned on her heel and walked away, not even turning to see if she was being followed. The three followed her out with Rogue in front and Logan being last.

"We'll talk more later."

"Figured as much," Logan muttered as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

A/N:

New shortest chapter

I don't know when but at some point, since I skipped Rogue's childhood, I'm gonna do a mini series of stories of her as a child. And queenith2, one will be with Tony babysitting.

Kitty is not gonna say 'like' in, like, every other word because it, like, is annoying. Like, you know what I mean? I don't wanna type that, like, all the time.

Necesito…pranks for on the mansion grounds. The first word means 'need' for those of you who didn't get it. Who didn't though?

I love Psylocke. But not like how I love Remy. She is kinda awesome. I don't really have much on her background though so I will probably recreate as I see fit if necessary.

I apologize in advance if the future chapters are kind of rushed or whatever. I want to certain other characters.

This chapter was sooo boring!

I need my own laptop. Sharing with Mama sucks.

I love that Craftsman ad.

Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin rules! The Kings of Comedy and Cool, respectively!


	9. Just Getting Started

WARNING: this is another chapter where they do nothing, BUT I like this one much better.

* * *

As soon as they stepped out of the office, Elizabeth turned to them.

"First of all, welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Despite what the man in the wheel chair says, my name is Betsy. Now, on with the tour," she said this all very politely and warm. (so not how Emma –lightning and thunder boom in the cloudless blue sky- would have handled it[I am not supposed to be doin' this])

She turned around and headed back down the hall they came from. Wade had eased back to Rogue's side and leaned down to whisper to her a piece of very vital information.

"She's hot."

"Get. Away. From me," she told in an annoyed tone.

"Someone gets cranky without her nap."

"Wow, Sherlock, figure that out by yaself, did ya?" she muttered mockingly.

"I'm just going to back away slowly and you're not going to eat me."

"Smart boy."

"Not if he's just figurin' that out now," Logan grunted from behind them.

"Did you three know I can hear everything you're saying back there?" she asked as she stood on the bottom stair in the foyer.

"Even the 'hot' comment?"

"Actually no. I had missed that part," she looked at them as she leaned on the banister.

Wade nodded his head.

"Okay. Were you offended by that?"

"Not really."

He nodded again, taking two steps forward past Rogue.

"Then would you like to go out with me Friday?" he smiled at her charmingly. Yes, Wade can do charming.

"We may not even be here Friday," Logan interjected.

"Good point," he tilted his head to consider this," How about tonight?"  
Behind him, Rogue was making frantic slashing motions with her gloved hands and shaking her head 'no' while mouthing the word.

"I'm flattered, but not tonight, I'm afraid. Another time, perhaps?" she didn't wait for an answer as she continued up the stairs.

Logan put a hand on his shoulder and grinned at him.

"She got style."

"She said 'another time'."

"She also said 'perhaps'. It ain't gonna happen, kid."

"Ya know, it would be really great if y'all would get up here sometime before we die," Rogue snapped from the top of the stairs next to Betsy.

"Rude much?" Wade muttered.

"What was that?" Rogue asked deceptively sweet.

"What was what?" he turned and looked behind him as if searching for something.

Betsy giggled and addressed Rogue.

"I'm impressed, luv. You have them very well trained."

"Thank you."

"We can hear you," Wade complained. Logan just grunted.

"I know," they both said at the same time.

"Please do not make that a habit," Wade put his hands together in a pleading manner.

The two ladies shared a look and smirked. Turned and walked off side by side, headed down the right hall.

"Oh bloody Mary. They share a wavelength," he walked with his head in his hands.

"I blame you," Logan told him.

He snapped his head up.

"How is it my fault? She's your kid."

"Don't try to weasel your way out of it," sometimes, he just liked messing with him.

"Weasel out of what? I didn't do anything!"

Logan gave him a look.

"What?"

Internally, he laughed. Really, he made it too easy sometimes. And really, you shouldn't pick on the clinically insane. But he wasn't certified so…

"Rogue!"

"Snitch," Logan muttered darkly.

"Tell your father it is not my fault!" he demanded.

"Father, it's not his fault. Now stop messin' with his head," she ordered without even turning around.

"He's your dad? Who's the other one?"

"He's like my uncle figure."

Betsy glanced behind.  
"But he's not that much older than you, is he?"

"He's way older than he looks."

"Hey! I'm not that old."

"How old are ya then?" Rogue asked.

He thought for a moment.

"I…don't know. But! That has nothing to do with my age and everything to do with the fact that everyone gets mindwipes in that place."

"Sure, Wade. I totally believe you," Rogue teased him.

He crossed his arms and pouted.

"No, you don't."

"All right. Here are your rooms. That didn't take too long, did it?" she announced as she stopped in a huge hallway with smaller halls branching off to the sides. It was designed so that the smaller halls had four doors, three were bedrooms, one was the bathroom. Isn't that convenient?

"Now, luv, you get to take your pick and the boys can have the left overs," she moved to the door next to the bathroom. "Personally, I'd go with the gold room."

She pushed open the door. The room was gorgeously made up in gold, white, and cream. The hardwood floors were covered in a thick cream carpet, the expensive kind that your feet sink into. The bed was gilded in fake gold, or at least she though it was fake, and the mattress was covered in golden pillows. Simply put, it was beautiful.

Rogue immediately raised her hand.

"Dibs on the gold room."

She looked over shoulder to Wade.

"Go get my bags."

"What am I, the duffel bag boy?"

"Basically. Shoo."

"So mean to me," he stalked off.

Betsy addressed Logan.

"If you like, you can move your truck into the garage. You noticed it on the side of the house, yes?"

"Yeah, thanks."

He glanced at Rogue before he left. She wordlessly nodded her head.

Betsy caught this and stepped into the gold room.

"Does he think I'm going to eat you or something?"

Rogue smiled as she walked over to the comfortable looking chair next to the window and sat down.

"Or somethin'," she gestured for Betsy to take the seat opposite her.

"I've been dying to ask you, where do you get your accent?"

"Southern Mississippi. Haven't been there in years though."

"Where have you been living?"

"All over the country. Visited all of them at least once. We don't really stay anywhere for long though. What about you?"

"I'm from London but I've been at the Institute for four years. I knew the professor before that though. He was able to help me with my powers at first, but then they began evolving and my parents thought it was a good time to send me to the 'nice American man'."  
"What are your powers?"

"At first, it was just mild telepathy and slight, I do mean slight, telekinesis. I could barely move a pencil. But now, I've got them down pretty good if I do say so myself. And then, there is this."

She held a fist out in front of her. Rogue's eyes widened when a purple katana materialized.

"That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life."

"I know right!" Betsy was beaming at the blade. "And I actually know how to use it!"

Rogue looked her in the eye.

"You any good?"

"I like to think so," she stood up and did a little show with it, backing away from Rogue.

"We'll have to spar sometime."

She opened her hand and the blade disappeared.

"So what's your power?"

"I absorb people through skin to skin contact. But they pass out after though."

"That means what exactly?"

"Whatever powers you have, I get. Your memories, your personality, everything. That mostly fades soon though but there is still a piece of you left over in my mind. I call it a psyche. I'm sorry if that doesn't make any sense, but that's the best I can describe it."

"No worries, luv. I got the gist of it. You can't control it?"

She shook her head.

"Well, that just sucks!" she replied emphatically, throwing her arms in the air and plopping down on the bed in disbelief. Betsy looked at her in amazement.

"And you're still alive! I'm nowhere near as strong as you, luv. I would have offed myself years ago."

"I can control it a little," Betsy looked at her expectantly," I can 'recall' powers I've absorbed before and use them but it takes a lot outta me."

"Is that why you have bags under your eyes?" she clapped a hand over mouth. "I should not have said that."

Rogue laughed.

"It's okay. You're truthful. I appreciate it. Most people usually try and pity me 'cuz of my powers. Pisses me off. By the way, is there a place nearby I can get makeup?"

"Oh, I have loads you can borrow," she hopped up off the bed," but you're probably too pale for it. We can go to the store now if you want and be back before dinner, or you could just stay like that."

"I don't look that bad," she defended, crossing her arms.

Betsy held up her hands.

"I didn't say you did, but you could definitely look better."

She rolled her eyes at the purple haired girl.

"At the moment, I just wanna sleep. Will your offer still stand two hours from now?"

"Of course, luv."

At just that moment, Wade came in the door carrying Rogue's two bags.

"Where do you want these?" he asked Rogue while giving Betsy an appreciative once over. She ignored him.

"Just toss 'em on the bed."

And he did.

Betsy looked at them with distaste.

"That's it? That's all the luggage you have?" she looked at her accusingly.

"We left in a rush."

Wade snorted at that.

"Understatement of the year," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Hmm. It looks like we're going to be doing more shopping than I thought," Betsy mused aloud.

Wade immediately turned on his heel and took off at a dead run, yelling,

"NO SHOPPING!"

The two women just stared where he had been. When his footfalls had faded to distant thuds, Betsy turned to Rogue, an arched brow raised.

"He had a bad experience this one time," Rogue said as if that should explain the 'odd' behavior. She just hoped the girl wouldn't ask if 'odd behavior' was normal for him before they got permission to live here. Lying was a sin. Lying to a telepath was just plain stupid.

* * *

A/N: I don't know how Brits talk. I need Brit slang. Where can I get some of that?

Rogue is not moodswingy. She just knows how to act in front of people and that she can act that way in front of people she knows. You know you do that sometimes. As Mama says, "It's like you ain't got no home training!" You're polite to total strangers, but you call your brother a friggin' idiot on the daily. Daddy says we're mean. Where has he been since '05? I try to tell him 'cow' means I love you.

AND I totally forgot to thank my reviewers. My bad, yo.(LOL) THANK YOUs to all who reviewed, favorite, and alert this story. I'd cyber-hug but I hate I hugs. Get out of my space area.

When I go off on long dialogues, y'all don't get confused with who's talkin' if I don't put 'she said', 'Logan said', blah blah blah, right?

Random for YOU: just because you don't always feel God's love, even if you don't believe in God or that He loves you, does not means that He does not love you. it doesn't mean He is not there. He is. you will find no greater love ever in your life. He will not leave. i just needed to put that. compelled, you know? i make no apologies if this 'offends'.

**Live4lovexoxo:** suggestion #1- NO! already know where he is goin'! don't confuse me dang it! This will have cannonish moments. Dang it! My head is already thinkin' if that could be twisted to a possible plot point! (what plot? You're just makin' this up as you go.[shut up]) Thank you for reviewing.

Suggestion #2- I LOVE that so very much. Thank you.

I'm afraid at this point if I don't specifically tell y'all to review, you just won't. Like that one time your parents told you not to play with fire, but hey they haven't said it in a while so it must not apply anymore. Lol Ahem, so REVIEW!

Who needs to go to sleep? I do but I ain't gonna! Laughing quietly to self LQTS. You know you need to go to sleep when you're just staring at the screen and start giggling at air. I hope you people appreciate this chapter. Lqts

Long aspirin a/n: 405 words not countin' this


	10. Meet & Greet

I don't own nothin'. It would be so cool to have Stan Lee as a granddaddy, uncle, fifth cousin twice removed on your aunt's side. Just a thought.

* * *

Currently, Rogue was experiencing that lovely place between sleeping and consciousness as she lay in the luxurious bed. She knew she should probably get up. She was supposed to be doing…something. She couldn't remember. Eh, must not have been important. Just as she decided to embrace sleep's beautiful call, she heard,

BAMF,

And promptly sat up in bed, gun already trained on the intruding boy in the center of the room. The blue intruding boy. With fur. And a tail.

"Whoa! Don't shoot!" he yelped and held up his hands that she couldn't help but notice had three fingers.

"Who are you?"

"Kurt Wagner. Sorry about scaring you like that and 'porting into your room. I didn't know anyone was in here," he smiled apologetically and Rogue caught a glimpse of sharp canines.

She took the gun off him but still had it in hand and stood up from the bed, taking two steps toward him.

"'Ported? As in teleported?"

"Ja! Exactly that. Check it out!"

BAMF

Kurt disappeared in a puff of smoke and

BAMF

Reappeared right next to Rogue who gagged and coughed on his smoke.

"Oh man! That is nasty."

"Sorry. That happens," he scratched the back of his head.

Rogue glanced at him and noticed his dejected look.

"Don't worry 'bout it. It's just somethin' that's a part of your powers," she tossed the gun on the bed and looked back at him. "If you were doin' it on purpose, then we would have problems," she smiled a bit at him.

"Danke," he smiled back.

"Now get out of my room."

"Ja verpassen," he saluted and 'ported out, leaving another noxious cloud behind.

Rogue rolled her eyes glanced at the clock on the bed side table. It read 8:13 a.m.

"_Oops."_

Obviously, she overslept. Oh, well. Maybe she didn't get her makeup, but she did get a good night's sleep with absolutely no nightmares and felt pretty good despite her wake up call. Rogue looked around the room for her bags. She found one of them buried under the some of the blankets at the foot of the bed and it seemed she'd used the other as a pillow. After rooting around for her necessities, she left her room, headed for the bathroom. Just as she opened her door, Logan came out of Wade's room.

"Mornin', darlin'."

"Mornin'. How come ya didn't wake me up yesterday?"

He shrugged.

"Wade went in and tried. Then he came out with a cut in his shirt and said that it would be best if we let you sleep. I think that girl got you some stuff anyway."

"I'll check later. Did ya talk to the professor again?"

"Yep."

She arched a brow.

"And?"

"And I'll tell ya and Wade after you showered and I find him."

"You lost Wade?"

"I didn't lose him. You say that like it's my job to watch him."

"Uh, 'cuz it is. Ya know that boy needs a keeper."

He grunted and walked away, leaving Rogue to handle her business. He had trailed Wade's scent back to his room and noticed his uniform missing. Now he was following it back down the stairs and to his left, down the hall and stopped in front of the elevator. He pressed the button, calling it up. Just as it opened, two of the students came barreling around the corner but stopped when they saw him.

He glanced at them, sizing them up, for no other reason than it was ingrained to do so at this point. The boy on the left was average height with no muscle bulk to brag about, dirty blond hair, blue eyes. The boy on the right though was obviously of some Hispanic descent judging from his dark skin and hair and bright brown eyes. Both of them were wearing black uniforms with yellow boots, gloves, and belt with a red X. He and Wade had been introduced last night at dinner. Didn't mean he remembered their names though.

"Hey, mister, um" Bright Eyes addressed him.

"Just Logan." They glanced at each other when he offered nothing else.

"So you're the new instructor?" Blondie this time.

"That's the deal," he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for one of the lower levels, but held the door open.

"Were you two comin'?"

The boys walked in and situated themselves inside. They rode in silence until,

"I'm Bobby Drake, by the way," Blondie identified himself.

"Uh, yeah, and I'm Roberto de Costa," Bright Eyes held out his hand. Logan glanced at it with a quirked eyebrow then gripped it. And forced himself not to laugh when the kid winced. He let go and the kid tried to subtly soothe his hand. Bobby smirked.

"Are you going to be running this exercise?" Bobby asked him.

"Not today."

The doors opened and Roberto hustled down the metal corridor and around the corner. Bobby walked a few paces behind Logan. Logan went the opposite way.

"Are you looking for something?"  
He grunted and stopped in front of a huge metal door.

"That's the Danger Room. Oh, but there's a session going on right now. Man, why would Scott call us down here if it was being used? Well, we can go watch what's going on from the control room," the kid turned and walked away.

Logan followed. He knew Wade was in there, but there wasn't any apparent way to get into the room short of cutting a hole in it. A short elevator ride later, they were in the occupied control room. Magma, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Angel were standing and seated inside.

"Yo, what's going on?" Bobby called to him as he stood in front of the viewing glass.

No one turned around, obviously not wanting to miss whatever was happening.

"See for yourself," Angel told them and moved over from in front of the screen so they could see.

Logan smacked his hand to his head and dragged it down.

Deadpool was on screen, and, what from Logan could tell, gleefully slapping the snot out of some kid with brown hair and red visors.

"Oh, ouch," Shadowcat muttered when Deadpool's hand shot out to the boy's face, knocking him flat on his back.

"Poor Scott," said Magma.

Nightcrawler said nothing as he sat and loudly munched his popcorn, eyes fixed on the screen.

**Down in the Danger Room**

"Hello! I slapped you! What are you going to do about it?" Deadpool taunted the teen. And getting a kick out of it, too. Yes, it was completely immature and jerkish, but he wasn't known for his maturity and nice ways.

If the kid hadn't gotten too big for his britches, what with all his bragging, and not challenged Deadpool, he wouldn't be getting slapped around like a whore. He looked at the kid and almost felt bad.

"Well?"

The kid stared at him. Or rather, Deadpool assumed he was staring at him. Couldn't really tell with the visor. He feinted at him and the kid flinched.

"This is pathetic."

So saying, he proceeded to slap the boy silly. In less than two minutes, he was on the ground.

"You're going to want to stay down," Deadpool told the panting youth. He turned and walked towards the doors. He stood up and tried to sneak up on Deadpool. Without breaking stride, Deadpool turned, picked him up by the throat, and choke slammed him.

"I said stay down."

Cyclops did not move.

"I'm going to walk away now. Because this, is over. And you are going to stay there. Do you understand?"

He nodded.

Deadpool cupped a hand at his ear.

"I can't hear you say 'Yes, sir'!" (drill sergeant thing)

"Yes, sir," he ground out.

"Eh, it'll do," Deadpool looked up at the control booth.

"Do you guys have chimichangas here?"

**

* * *

**

After Logan had hauled Deadpool out of the Danger Room, he brought him to Rogue's room for their talk.

"So we're stayin'?" Rogue asked from her chair, now dressed in a fresh, if slightly wrinkled, set of clothes.

"But for how long?" Wade mused, sprawled on the floor with his mask hanging from around his neck.

"As long as we want. In the meantime, I'll be workin' for Charles 'round here with the kids," Logan told them from where he leaned against the wall next to the window.

Wade snorted.

"What?"

"These kids are way too soft."

"Well, that's what Daddy's gonna work on."

"And Wade."

He burst out laughing.

Rogue smiled.

"So they have to do everything I say?" he chuckled.

"Poor, unfortunate souls."

Logan smirked and looked at Rogue.

"And you'll be attendin' school once spring break's over."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah. I been meanin' to ask y'all. When were you gonna tell me they blew up our house?" she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

Logan held up his hands.

"Don't give me that look. I thought Wade told you. Honest, Stripes."

She turned her glare on Wade who was looking the_ other_ way. Rogue got up, walked to his head, and knelt down next to him. He had his eyes closed.

"Uncle Wade."

"I'm sorry. Wade isn't available right now, but if you would like to leave a non-painful message, he'll be sure to get back to you."

She lightly smacked him on the head.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He opened his eyes.

"You hardly needed any more stress. And you females obsess over the weirdest things."

Rogue and Logan both arched an eyebrow. They weren't even going to go there. She shrugged.

"I got the important stuff."

She looked at both of them.

"I don't appreciate bein' left in the dark though. Despite what you two think, I can handle a lot more than y'all give me credit for."

"You shouldn't have to though," Logan told her.

She sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. I love y'all too."

She stood up and opened the door.

"I'm gonna go see if Betsy's offer is still open."

"Eat something before you go," Wade called.

She waved a hand and shut the door.

"'Eat something before you go'," Wade mocked himself. "When did I become a mom?" he asked in disbelief.

Logan pushed himself off the wall and stepped over Wade.

"I reckon 'bout the time you started goin' to the store and buyin' her feminine products," he told him with a smirk and shut the door just as a knife landed where his head had been.

* * *

**A/N:** I noticed something. In the first chapters, I'm a little bit more descriptive. Now I'm not. Also, I don't have any analogies or similes or any of that stuff from literature class. Also I'm not describing them to you anymore. You should know what they look like. What? I told you I'm lazy.

Is anyone confused about Rogue's powers? And yes, she does sleep with a gun under her pillow and a knife. But really, that's a bad idea. Y'all shouldn't try that. Seriously. Don't do it. I don't think I introduced Kurt very well. Who else do we want to see in this story? Lemme know.

**Live4lovexoxo:** suggestion #1: You know how I was all 'NO!' before? Yeah, well now I don't know. it's an interesting idea but I didn't wanna go there and now I might be goin' somewhere totally different than where I thought. It could happen, it might not. I don't even know. I don't EVEN KNOW! I appreciate it though.

For my other story, 'Scenes from a Rogue Life', I'd be obliged for story ideas.

Y'all know how Logan gives everybody a nick name? I probably gonna need help with that. Betsy? Wade? Well, no, he can be Schitzo. Everybody else though. I still need pranks.

Thank yous to everyone who review and favorite this story and 'Adventures in Disney'. Isn't that a great title? Review, people. Hate or Love or Like or Don't Care

Random for YOU: It really annoys me when people write or quote John 3:16 wrong. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son( they usually stop here) **that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."** It ain't that long. That just bothers me.


	11. Boutiques & Mercedes

If you haven't already, go read 'Adventures in Disney' and 'Scenes from a Rogue Life'. After this, of course.

* * *

"Rogue!"

She turned when she heard her name to see Betsy calling her from the foyer.

"Hey. Sorry 'bout yesterday," she said as she walked down the stairs.

"No worries. You looked half out of it yesterday anyway. So I went ahead without you and got you a few necessities but I'm sure you still need more," she linked her arm around Rogue's, pulling her to the front door. Rogue almost pulled her arm away but didn't because she was properly covered. She was surprised that this woman was willingly getting this close to her. Rogue shuddered. She really hoped Betsy wasn't a hugger. That'd be a shame because she actually liked her. No. Not like that.

"You don't have to do this, ya know."

"Do what? Shop? Oh, yes, I really do," she smiled at her and proceeded to drag her to the garage. When they reached the underground portion of the garage, out of all the cars, Betsy stopped at a sleek, silver Mercedes coupe.

"Yours?" Rogue asked, taking in the smooth design.

"My fiancée's. So yeah, it basically is."

They opened the doors and got in.

"You're engaged?"

She held out her left hand and admired a rock the size of a dime lived on a band of gold.

"Mmhmm. To a real hunk of heaven," she giggled dreamily.

"Oh, really?"

"Mmhmm. Wings and everything."

She started the car and it purred to life.

"Hey, now," Rogue murmured.

"And he meets the full 'B' criteria,"(2) she shifted the clutch and hit the gas, and it flowed forward as she sped up the ramp leading out,

"Blond, blue eyed, and built!"

Rogue laughed.

**

* * *

**

Rogue did not hate shopping. She actually enjoyed it, mainly because she got to drag Logan or Wade or both through countless stores and made them hold the bags. That was good for hours of entertainment. Logan said she got that sadistic streak from her mother. Wade suggested beating it out of her. But today, she was thoroughly sick of it. She wasn't sure if Betsy was a better or worse shopping partner than her boys because she was the complete opposite of them in that she was way, way into shopping.

She'd driven them to a string of little boutiques in the downtown area. Rogue really couldn't complain, she'd gotten a lot of wonderful things and had at least half a new wardrobe and lady things. Although there had been a brief, erm, debate on Rogue's choice of dark colors over the things Betsy had picked. The pink things. And she liked Betsy; she was cool people. But dang it, it all got so tiresome. It probably had something to do with control. When she went shopping before, it was up to her where they went and when they left. But now, at last, finally, after the umpteenth store, she was free. They were walking back to the car, chatting. Well, Betsy chatted, telling her about the other residence of the manor. Rogue, for the life of her, was trying to figure out how she was just traipsing around in those killer, blue heels.

"Kitty just got back from visiting her parents in Indiana or Ohio, I'm not sure, but they went on a second honeymoon thing or something so she came back early."

"Uh-huh. Who is Kitty, again?"

"The adorable little brunette with the ponytail with a boy problem."

"Right."

"She's a sweet one, and would be so cute with Kurt. He's the –"

"Yeah, we met."

"Well, you're going to want to watch him. He and Bobby think themselves to be the great pranksters of our time."

"Oh, I think I'll be able to handle them."

They passed an outdoor café they'd eaten at earlier. Several groups were occupying the tables. One, in particular, had a couple of guys seated who were clearly checking them out.

"Hey, sweetheart," one of them called, addressing Rogue," haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"Yeah, that's why I don't go there no more," she called back, not breaking stride, and barely sparing him or his guffawing friend a glance.

"Good girl," Betsy chuckled at the scene, "And then there's our two lovebirds, Scott and Jean."

"Aren't you and your angel lovebirds?"

"No, we're the power couple. Listen to me when I talk, Love, it's all very important. Now those two were in love with each other since puberty but never told anyone, they just made it really painfully annoying for every one around them. She dated a quarterback or something in high school and he just didn't, not that girls weren't trying, mind you," they made it back to the car and Betsy unlocked the door.

"You want to drive Rupert?" she held the keys out to Rogue.

"Rupert?"

"Do you or don't you?"

"Oh, I do," she hesitated in taking the keys and glanced at the really expensive car.

"You sure?"

"Do you have a license?"

"Yeah."

"Have you ever been in an accident before?"

"No."

"Can you get yourself out of tickets?"

She smiled.

"Yeah."

"Well, then have at it," she tossed the keys to her, and Rogue practically threw her bags in the back seat, and slipped into the cool leather of the driver's seat. Betsy walked around to the other side, carefully stowed her purchases, and settled into the passenger seat.

"Now where was I?"

"Girls wanted to rape Scott," Rogue muttered distractedly as she started the engine and revved the motor. She sighed dreamily.

"Oh, right,"

Rogue barely glanced behind her before she backed out and tore out of the parking lot, headed back to the mansion.

"Well, like I said, their unspoken attraction was getting on my, I mean, everyone's nerves so it just so happened that they went and got themselves locked in the Danger Room until they admitted their undying love for each other. It was fate, really."

Rogue stopped at a red light and looked at her sideways. Betsy noticed this and gave her an innocent look.

"What? All right. I might have possibly had something to do with helping fate along. I didn't lock them in…per se. It's just that once they got in after Scott had preset the operations, they both just forgot how to get out."

Rogue snorted.

"Forgot, huh?"

The turned green and four seconds later, they were cruising at a sedate sixty miles per hour.

"I hope you don't mind me sayin' so, but you're a little crazy."

Betsy laughed.

"Only a little?" she glanced at the speedometer. "Why are you driving like a grandmother?"

"I'm goin' fifteen miles over the speed limit already."

"What's your point? My grandmother always went twenty miles over the speed limit except when it was raining. Then she only went ten. And besides, the limit is more of a suggestion anyway."

Rogue thought about it for a moment. If anything happened, she would tell Logan that it wasn't her fault; the psyches and peer pressure got to her. She smiled, shifted to the fifth gear, and the car surged to eighty miles per hour.

"Much better."

Rogue couldn't help but agree.

**

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**

When the girls got home, Wade met them at the door and helped them with their bags. Well, more like he sprinted through the foyer, backtracked to greet them, and Rogue told him to get her stuff and take it to her room. And he did so, grumbling under his breath,

"I am a freaking ninja assassin. Why am I taking order taking orders from this little brat?"

"You know I can hear you right?" Rogue asked him with a fist planted on her hip.

He blinked at her.

"Oh. I so thought I was saying that in my head," he shrugged and continued his task.

"Okay then," Betsy watched him to make sure he left. "Do you mind if I help you pick out an outfit for dinner?"

"I didn't think dress up was a big thing here."  
"Oh, it's not except for Thanksgiving and Christmas and days like that. No, I just wanted to help put you together, is all."

"That's fine then."

Betsy clapped her hands together once, smiling.

"Great. We'll finally get you properly introduced to everyone. See you later, Love."

"Yeah, later."

After Betsy left, Rogue stood where she was, as a thought struck her.

"Where the Hellespont is the freakin' kitchen at?"

**

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A/N: I'm just danglin' the promise of Remy in front of y'all's faces. He's comin' but boy is it slow comin. But I'm updatin' a lot. Good thing for you people(what do you mean 'you people'? lol) I have no social life, no cable, and out of school 'til the fall.

I'm not real sure how a manual shift works. She could have already been in fifth gear.

Speed limits are not suggestions. They are the law. Follow them. I do…most of the time. Lol, my sister's gotten out of four tickets.

What? Y'all didn't need a play for play of them shopping, did you? They did girl bonding. Shopping is one of the many ways to do so. Screwing with guys' minds is another. My sister is a brain ninja. Oh, idea. Shopping with Logan and/or Wade. Commence evil laughter. Not in this though. 'Scenes from a Rogue Life'. GASP…Wade…on coffee high. Of course, I, myself, will need coffee in order to capture this correctly. Yeah, that's why…

(1)I don't know what that means but I heard it in Mary Poppins.

(2)The 'B' criteria did not come from me but a X men Evo/Superman crossover. They were talking about a girl, but far be it from me to be a sexist. I don't recall the name of the story.

To **Kii**: Yeah, I get what you're sayin and had originally planned it that way, but I don't think so. Thank you for the review.

To **Ele**: LOL that's great for 'Scenes'. I love that.

Btw, the mansion is more like the movie version than the Bayville version. That's why they are in Westchester or whatever it was I said.

I 3 Phil Wickham. Beautiful voice, beautiful lyrics, and he's pretty east on the eyes. I watched him on Youtube teaching how to play his songs on guitar. I don't have a guitar. I. Want. A. Guitar. Like yesterday. Lol. My gosh, just listen at him! Phil Wickham True Love Lesson

To my reviewers,

Thank you all so very much. Gimme your suggestions on how to introduce Remy, for other characters or ideas period and pranks, people. Pranks open doors.

p.s. to my anonymous'(?): You know it doesn't take that long to get a profile. Just go to sign up, takes like five minutes. You don't have to have a story in order to have a profile. That way, I can send you messages 'bout whatever questions or suggestions you bring up without messin' up the plot (lol plot, haha lol) for everybody else.


	12. The Dinner Party

Shout out to **Princesakarlita411**, my 50th reviewer! Surprised I got this many so early. In case y'all ain't figured it out, probably haven't 'cuz I just did myself, this story is gonna be pretty long. Thank you to everyone else who reviewed.

"**This signifies telepathic speech**"

"_This is for when they are thinking"_

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Rogue had occupied the two hours she had until dinner to organize her purchases in the wardrobe which had only taken thirty minutes and reading the book she had picked up from one of the stores earlier called _House _by Ted Dekker. She had situated herself against the pillows on the headboard. She was so engrossed in the novel that she didn't even notice the door open.

"Rogue."

She jumped and her hand immediately went under pillow, but she stopped herself from pulling it out when she saw it was just Betsy. She sighed and put her hand to her heart.

"You 'bout near gave me a heart attack," Rogue admonished her, waving her in.

"Yes, well, you didn't respond when I knocked," Betsy walked in and shut the door, making her way to the wardrobe, "Or called you."

"Couldn't you have just used your telepathy to get my attention?"

Betsy was already looking through her clothes for Rogue's dinner outfit. Rogue honestly didn't get why the woman was gung-ho about dinner. She shrugged it off though. Some people were just like that.

"I did. Did we get this shirt today? Oh, why?"

"I completely didn't hear you. It's kinda noisy in my head, what with the psyches and all."

Betsy paused in her rummaging and turned to Rogue.

"You mean they talk to you?"

She was absently picking at a loose string on her glove.

"Mmhmm. To me, about me. Kinda like whisperin' in the back of my head. Or from the top. I ignore them mostly."

"Huh," she turned back to the task at hand. "Interesting. It sounds like telepathy."  
"'Cept you can control yours."

"I'm sure you'll be able to as well. That's one of the reasons people come here, you know. To learn how to control their powers."

"Maybe."

"No, not maybe. Definitely," without turning around, Betsy sent two separate outfits floated to Rogue.

"Which one, Love?"

She looked at the one on her left. It was a simple, dark green, long sleeve V neck shirt and a pair of baggy, brown cargo pants. The other was a casual summer dress. How on earth had that woman talked her into buying a dress? And one so…bright. It had yellow and orange flowers on its white background. It's not that Rogue didn't have anything against color. She just had a darker style than most.

"This one," she said, reaching for the left one.

"Yes, I thought you might," Betsy smiled as she crouched down amongst the shoes. "Now all we need is the perfect shoe."

"Can't I just wear the ones I have on?"

This was one of the reasons she didn't have a lot of girl friends. Females annoyed her.

Betsy glanced over her shoulder and peered at Rogue's black Converse shoes.

"I'm sorry, Love, but have you taken leave of your senses? Those with this? No," she shuddered.

Rogue rolled her eyes. She was, at least, ten times worse than Pepper. Betsy selected a pair of flat golden, baby doll shoes and tossed them to Rogue who caught them easily.

"There we go," she stood up and walked to the door. "I'll meet you in the dining room."

"One quick question: where's the dining room?"

"Oh, I didn't show you earlier? Could have sworn I did. You just go downstairs, take the second hall to your left, third wooden door on your, well, they're all wooden actually. Well, not in the sublevels. Hm. Anyway, you go right and go down that hall 'til you get to the big archway. Oh then left again. Got it?"

"Let's go with that."

"All right. Later."

"Yeah. Later," she watched Betsy open the door and shut it behind her.

"Much, much later," she had a mental image in her head of herself wandering through miles of hallways while Wade was seated and inhaling food and Logan prowling the halls looking for her and laughed. They'd probably find her poor, emaciated body right on the other side of the dining room halls in about a month.

**

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**

Rogue crossed her arms as she glared at her general surroundings. She had gotten dressed, done her make up, and run a brush through her two-toned hair in under twenty minutes. She'd been wandering through the ground floor of the mansion for ten.

"_Apparently, I should have taken that left at Albuquerque."_

Somehow, she had ended up in a very expansive library. It had two levels, it was that big. Normally, Rogue would be ecstatic about this discovery, but at the moment, she was hungry and annoyed. Heaving a soul deep sigh that sounded more like a low growl, she stalked out of the library into the hall. She would have stomped, except her training by both Wolverine and Deadpool would not allow her to do so.

"Does she even realize how many archways there are in this place?" she muttered darkly to herself as she twisted the hair on the nape of her neck, an unconscious habit she'd picked up from her mother.

"**You need to get back to the first hall.**"

She frowned at the unfamiliar voice in her head and leaned against the wall.

"_Huh. And I thought I knew everybody in here."_

"**Indeed you do. This is Professor Xavier. I hope you don't mind my intrusion, but I couldn't help but notice your distress.**"

Rogue could have sworn there was concealed amusement in the disembodied head.

"_I am not distressed. I just don't know how to get to the stupid dining room. Nothing distressin' 'bout that. I'll tell ya who's gonna be distressed. Wade and Logan when they find my body curled up in a fetal position, wasted away to bones."_

"**Don't you think you're exaggerating the situation a bit?**"

"_You're right. With my luck, they'll find my body just before I die, and we'll have this real teary, dramatic good-bye."_

There was silence for a while as Rogue imagined the man composing himself and she smiled to herself. Extended exposure to Wade resulted in strange bouts of random from time to time. Yeah. Blame it on Wade.

"**Or you could allow me to direct you.**"

"_Yeah, I suppose that works too."_

"**Very well. Now, go left to the end of this hall.**"

And she did. She followed his instructions until she came to the, in her mind, 'fabled' Archway.

"_This is supposed to be the big archway? Looks pretty standard sized to me."_

"**Directly through here and to your left and you will have arrived, Miss Howlett.**"

"_Call me Rogue."_

"**Of course. I hope you'll forgive us for starting without you.**"

"_Well, I can't really blame y'all for that."_

She felt his presence in her mind fade as she passed under the Archway. Excited chatter could be heard on the other side of the door and she pushed it open, stopping just inside. She saw the professor at the head of the table with an amused grin on his face and couldn't stop a similar one from gracing her own features. Logan was next to him and looked over his shoulder at her with a raised brow. She just shrugged.

Betsy was seated next to a blonde man with wings, giggling at something he'd just said. Well, she definitely wasn't going to sit there. Not because she found the way they were staring at each other to be disgusting. Oh, no. She just didn't want to be a nuisance to the girl when she was with her betrothed. Yeah, that's it. The non-bitter conclusion. Betsy glanced at her and waved, smiling. Rogue returned both though not as enthusiastically.

The professor cleared his throat and drew everyone's attention.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Rogue. She arrived the other day with Logan and Wade. I'm sure you'll all make her feel welcome. Rogue, please sit wherever you wish."

"Thank you, sir," Rogue heard Logan scoff at the honorific.

"Hey! Hey, Rogue, come sit next to me," Wade called her over, but the seats on either side of him were occupied. On the left, a blonde girl in a pink shirt appraised her and the right had a boy with dark skin. She arched a brow at him. He glanced left, right, then to Logan and the professor to see the two engaged in discussion before shoving the boy on his right out of his seat and pointing at it. Rogue bit her lip to keep from laughing and walked over to the boy whose friends were already chuckling at him.

Rogue quickly caught the professor's eye and saw that he was hiding his mouth behind his hand, and Logan was pretending he hadn't noticed.

"You okay?" she extended a brown, gloved hand to the boy. He took her hand, and she helped him stand.

"Much better now. I'm Roberto. And I'm thinking this is your seat," she quickly reclaimed her hand.

"Smart boy," Wade declared, drawing curious looks from the students.

"Sorry 'bout him," Rogue said as she settled into the chair and tossed a glare at Wade who grinned at her innocently and went back to eating his food contentedly.

"No worries," he took the chair on the other side of the blond since the one next to her had the blue boy, Kurt, who had nodded at her when she'd first walked in before becoming absorbed with his food. The blonde girl leaned forward in her chair to catch Rogue's eye.

"I'm Tabby. Cool to know you. Who have you met?" the blonde asked her bluntly, but she had this grin on her face that reminded her of someone. Oh, who could it be?

"Betsy, Kurt, Kitty briefly, Roberto just now, the professor, and you," she responded as she stabbed a piece of chicken off of Wade's plate. No sense in making her own if she didn't like the food.

"We need to fix that," she stood from her seat and indicated her person with animated gestures.

"This chick in front of me is Amara, a.k.a Magma; the frosty in front of you is Bobby, the Icema-an," she intentionally made a gagging noise when saying 'man' and said boy glared half-heartedly," The man you see playing footsie with Betsy under the table is, ahem, Warren Worthington the third or Angel, whatever you can say faster. The guy in the shades at the farthest reaches from your boy here," she placed a hand on Wade's shoulder, and he just managed to restrain himself from stabbing her out of instinct," is Scott Summers, Ol' fearless One-Eye himself," she plopped back into her seat and drew a large breath.

"I should really start breathing during these long monologues."

"You do have them, like, a lot," Kitty commented.

She rolled her eyes at her.

"You're one to talk," Bobby interjected. "Oh, wait. You already do that."

Kitty stuck her tongue out at him and flicked a pea at him. Tabby continued after she caught her breath, "That's not everybody, of course. Most of the crew is visiting family, you know? Oh, and you can call me Boom-Boom, by the way."

"Boom-Boom?" she queried as she continued to steal from Wade, this time getting some mashed potatoes and mac and cheese.

There goes that manic grin again. The girl fisted one hand and opened it a moment later to reveal a small, glowing, orange orb of energy.

"Tabitha," the professor addressed the girl," please refrain from damaging the dining room."

"Oh," she glanced to the cherry bomb in her hand, left, right, then," Hey, Blue, heads up!" She tossed it to him and he caught it without thinking. When he looked at what was in his hand, his eyes grew wide and he let out a decidedly girly yelp before disappearing in an acrid puff of smoke. And a moment later,

BOOM!

And then a,

BAMF

And a slightly singed Kurt reappeared behind Tabby who was dying from laughter and was spreading it to Wade who had started giggling with her.

"Har-tee-freaking-har," Kurt glared at her.

"Aw, lighten up, Blue," she wiped a tear from her eye. "Just a joke."

"Not. While. I. Am. Eating," so saying, grabbed Tabitha's shoulder and then they both

BAMF

Were gone.

"Like, where did – "

"Aaaugh!"

SPLASH

BAMF

"they go?"

Kurt, all by himself, calmly sat back down with a smug grin in place.

"_Well, that was random."_

"**Fortunate or not, you get used to it.**_"_

Rogue looked at the professor sharply.

"**Forgive me, but you were projecting your thoughts.**"

She held his gaze a moment before nodding, deciding to let it slide this time then glanced at Betsy to see if she'd noticed. But she wasn't there. And neither was her fiancé. Or that Scott guy. Rogue raised a brow but didn't comment.

"Um, Kurt, bro, where's Tabby?" Bobby asked hesitantly.

Kurt just looked up and smiled then went back to his food, his first love.

"All righty. Everyone let us have a moment of silence for our dear friend," Roberto said solemnly and bowed his head as did the others, except Kurt who kept eating, and Wade who still hadn't gotten control over his laughter. Ten seconds later, the dining room doors were kicked open by a soaked, furious Tabby.

"You're going to get it now, Fuzz Butt!" she was about to prepare a large cherry bomb when the professor's calm voice rang out in the sudden silence.

"Tabitha, I believe we have discussed using one's powers in anger on a fellow teammate. Especially indoors," he gently reprimanded, leaning on the armrest of his chair.

Rogue didn't know if any one else saw it, but to her, it looked like his stern façade was on the verge of breaking into laughter along with Wade. He had calmed down though, and now he and Rogue were now watching the goings-on with marked interest along with everyone else while they continued to share a plate.

Tabby held up her hands in the universal sign of surrender, but the smile on her face was far too sweet.

"Right. Of course," she sauntered to the table, placing her hands on the table, leaning forward, and dripping, "Not while you're eating, huh?" She glared at Kurt, still managing to look threatening.

Then quicker than anyone could register, mashed potatoes were in the blue boy's face and a wicked grin was on Tabby's.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Was it ever! Shrieks and flying chicken filled the room. As the eight teenagers and Wade commenced in warfare, Logan wheeled the professor out of the dining hall, just avoiding getting plastered with macaroni.

"You're just going to let them trash your house?"

Logan knew that Charles went easy on the kids but had no idea they lacked all semblance of discipline.

"They're only children, Logan. Sometimes, you just need to let them play. And besides," he smiled up at his old friend," I'm sure they'll have just as much fun cleaning up the mess as they are making it. Now, what do you prefer on your pizza?"

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A/N: **xXWingedWerefoxXx:** That was too good not to use! Thanks. I'll be glad for whatever other bones you toss out.

**Quick question: **Who should Kitty be paired with? Kurt, Piotr, or Lance? Tell me in a review. ;) hint ;) hint

Her intro to everybody was LAME. Ugh!

In my head, I keep to skippin' to way later scenes in this. I should really write them down or somethin' cuz they're really good.

I find the word 'plot' to be incredibly hilarious. It makes me laugh every time. These A/Ns are gettin' way too long. Feel free to skip my ramblings. Can you believe Microsoft doesn't know that 'footsie' is a word. It means foot foreplay.

It's so hard to write this with Wade in it. Crazy people don't stay in the background very well and he keeps trying to take over scenes.

**READ TED DEKKER books!** All of them. They're mostly action, psychological, supernatural, horror type things with some romance but they are so good! _Kiss, House, Showdown, Skin_, first one stars a female who is almost killed and wakes up with the ability to steal people's memories. Sound familiar? The second will keep you up at night. As will the third. And the last one is pretty funny but still totally freaky. Once I get more experience, I might redo them with Evo characters. I already know who I'm gonna kill off.

**For** an upcoming 'Scenes from a Rogue Life', Logan is gonna read lil' Anna a bedtime story. Whether he likes it or not. Any story suggestions? No, seriously. Give me something. Something I can twist in strange and humorous ways. Queenith2, I'll write your story before I do the others. Unless it's cool with you if I put that off more.

Also, my mom says her "teacher is the daughter of the devil." lol


	13. Wake Up Call

Special thanks to the reviewers of chapter 12 for no other reason than I feel like it:

Princesakarlita411, Rogueslove22, AsteriaNike, anon, xXWingedWereFoxXx, Ele, Pianolinist, Kii, queenith2, and Sabertooth1973…man, Microsoft hates y'all's names.

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After much horseplay, they'd clean the dining hall, and went into the kitchen to eat junk food and goof around well into the night. Everyone else goofed around while Rogue mainly stayed quiet, laughing at their antics. Just after Wade had taken a dare and declared, "Bring me the Pop Rocks and the Dr. Pepper. Prepare to bathe my monkeys", Logan came to shut the party down and told them there would be a Danger Room session in the morning…at six…it was one a.m. With much moaning and complaining, the eight teens and Wade performed their nightly rituals and went to bed.

It was currently five thirty-two a.m., and Rogue had just unplugged the alarm clock and curled up deeper into the bed. She knew she was supposed to be getting up. She just didn't care and had determined to not move. But then Wade, already suited up except his mask, dumped water on her.

"Aaauugh!" Rogue sprang up from bed, spluttering and glaring murder at Wade.

"Good morning, Sunshine," he smiled at her, oblivious of his imminent slow death.

"It's bad luck to wake a girl while she's sleepin'," the threat was clear in her tone, as water dripped from her hair and face, soaking the sheets.

He raised a finger to contradict her.

"Fortunately, I know how to counter it. The one who woke the girl gives her a cup of coffee," he moved to a desk in the room and picked up a cup that read 'Starbucks' on the side and held it just out of her reach. She could feel the drool pool in her mouth.

"By receiving the coffee, the girl gives up her claim to gut the waker with a spoon and lets him stay intact this time. Yeah?" he held the cup a little closer and she caught a whiff of the blessed conconction.

"Yeah, yeah. Give it."

He let her have it, and she drank it greedily, water still falling from her hair. She moved it from her lips and sighed dreamily, a smile on her face. Then she stood up and whacked Wade upside his head.

"Hey! You're not supposed to do that after you get the coffee!"

"The coffee rule applies only waking. It has nothing to do with ruining my hair. I just straightened this yesterday," she told him, with a hand on her hip and took another sip.

"Just let it curl! There's nothing wrong with it like that."

"No."

"Why not? What possible reason could you have for not letting your natural beauty shine through? Just what do you tell yourself to justify the oppression that you put your hair through?"

"I don't wanna," she told him simply. "Now get out. I need to get dressed."

"Fine. Just don't crawl back into bed or I'll have that blue kid BAMF you into the pool."

"They have a pool?"

He nodded, "And a tennis court, basketball court, soccer field, baseball diamond, a jet hangar, this really big anus computer, a big furry blue doctor in the basement who, I'll admit, scared the crap out of me, yes, I did scream like a little girl, and I almost shot him. He dodged it, though, the jerkwad. But he gave me a twinkie so it's all frosty," he rambled and would have kept going, telling Rogue about how he had wandered through most of the mansion and memorized the layout, except he paused to take a breath.

"Out," she ordered him, pointing to the door.

"'Kay, love you, bye," he slammed the door behind him and started to go to the girls' wing to wake them but decided he didn't want to get set on fire or blown up so early in the morning. So he went the opposite way to give the boys a wake up call. Why? Because he was a bored, mentally disturbed, insomniac. (I'd do it.) He whistled 'Blue Moon' as he walked and stopped, tilting his head, when he heard snoring coming from one of the little branch halls. He stepped into the hall and glanced to the right at what he knew to be Scott's door and grinned.

*He opened the door and stepped in, leaving it open. He didn't bother to look around; he'd snooped through all the occupied rooms yesterday. Why? Because he was a bored, mentally disturbed, curious insomniac. Wade didn't hesitate in his destination as he crept to the bed, gently mounted it, pausing when the kid shifted onto his back, and then hovered over him. His face was inches from Scott's and an insane practically split his face as he snickered to himself.

After a few seconds, he got another brilliant idea. He reached for his belt and pulled out a Sharpie out of the waistband. Uncapping it, he began doodling on Scott's face, barely containing his giggles. Just as he finished the first word, the alarm on the bedside table went off, and Scott jerked awake. And screamed bloody murder when he saw Wade over him. His hand immediately went to the visor he was wearing and a red beam blasted Wade at point blank range. He hit the ceiling and stuck for a moment, spread eagle, and Scott scrambled off the bed. Then he fell like a rock right where Scott had been, leaving spiderweb cracks in the ceiling.

"Ow," he muttered into a pillow. "Now was that really necessary?" he flopped over and sat up, and just looked at the bone that was trying to rip through his suit.

BAMF

"Scott! Vhat happened? I heard you scream and…" he trailed off when he saw Wade poking at his semi-exposed rib. Wade noticed him staring and decided, 'Eh, what the heck'. He fell back on the bed and started freaking out and moaning. Warren, Bobby, and Roberto burst into the room, ready for a fight. They gaped openly at the scene in front of them.

"Oh, man," Warren muttered.

"Cool," guess.

"Porcaria."

"It wasn't my fault! That psycho tried to kill me!" Scott defended himself, though no one accused him. He started pacing, ranting about random things that no one could make sense of. (or cared about, for that matter) Amidst Wade's cries of 'Agony, agony, agooooony! , Logan had stalked into the room.

"Wade," he barked out.

He sat up.

"Yo."

"You've got to have something better to do besides messin' these kids' heads. That's my job."

"Yeah, I know. And I was helping you with that by waking up all these little people. See?" he made a sweeping gesture with his arm to encompass the boys.

"You didn't wake the girls, did you?"

"Seriously? When have you ever known me to be that suicidal in the morning?" he looked down and noticed his rib again, which he had forgotten about. Yeah, it hurt, but Wade was able to ignore a little pain at this point.

"Bengori."

"Oh, yeah," he didn't look up as he shifted the bone into place, hitting it with a fist. "Get in there already, you stupid."

"Uh, aren't you supposed to put that in a splint or something?" Roberto was looking a little pale.

"Nah, I got it. There!" he patted his chest, his rib rapidly healing.

"Great. Now, the rest of you, quit your gawking and suit up. I want y'all in the Danger Room in fifteen minutes," he glanced at Scott, smirked, and walked out.

"Well," Wade stood up and clapped his hands once," my work is done here." He looked at Scott and walked out of the room whistling 'Dixie'. The boys just stood there a moment as the notes faded, the silence broken only by pieces of sheet rock lightly falling from the ceiling intermittently. Then Kurt glanced at Scott's face, and he snorted.

"What?"

The others started snickering as well.

"Dude, he marked you," Bobby chuckled. "Check the mirror."

Scott walked to the mirror on his wall. In his reflection, he saw a large, graphic eye drawn on his forehead. He rubbed at it. In permanent marker.

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A/N: You know what's weird? 27 people are alerted to this story. Thanks for that, really. But, a gal would just think that she'd get 27 reviews, one from each. Oh, well…

Besides the new recruits, what other mutants should appear? Most everybody is on vacation, so them being there would be easy to explain, at this point.

Should my chapters be longer? Nah. I think I'll alternate updates between this and 'Scenes'. Thank you so much, reviewers. I'm pretty free with what goes in that one. Any ideas you have, even if you think they're stupid, I will take them into consideration for 'Scenes from a Rogue Life'. That title is really starting to grow on me.

I didn't use to not like Scott. There was a time I couldn't care less. Now I loathe him. Comic version left his _wife and child._ To go back to his 'soul mate'. Bull crap. There is no such thing as a 'soul mate'. You either choose to love someone or you don't. Your life will not be better or miserable just because you weren't with this one specific person. It's your choice. No. That is not cool. I don't care what you excuse is. Unless she's trying to kill you, then by all means go. But oh, Jean's back I must go to her. No. So I don't like him and he is going to be on the end of a lot of abuse. Wade has to mess with somebody, why not Scott?

His eye beams produce force, not heat right?

What Wade says in the first paragraph: that is a quote and no, I don't know what it's referring to or what he means by 'monkeys'. I don't think I want to know…

**Notice the stars earlier? I just wanted to let y'all know that writing those parts caused me to laugh a lot. Lol…() the parentheses are just things I thought but aren't an actual part of the story. Should I keep my opinion to myself? Psh. Like I'm going to listen to y'all anyway.

Have I told my reviewers how awesome they are lately? No? Well, you're all beautiful people. Y'all keep on keepin' on.


	14. I Used to Be So Well Rounded

To **me, Ele, xXWingedWereFoxXx, and Alexis,** my anonymous reviewers of chapter 13: Thank you. I always try to respond to my reviews and I think I got my other fourteen who have identities. Everyone else, thanks. On to why you're here…

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Rogue sipped her coffee as she followed the other girls out of the elevator into a metal hall. After she'd dried out her hair, she'd brushed it back into a ponytail, blending the white streak in with the auburn. It still curled but was out of the way at least. She was wearing her usual training outfit over the black and yellow uniform that Wade had left in her room, though she'd taken the belt with the red X. She'd come out of her room, wandered for a while, and just as she was on the verge of being hopelessly, run into the other girls completely by accident.

"Like, seriously though. It took me, like, three weeks before I could make it out the front door without getting lost," Kitty commented.

"I know right," Amara commiserated.

"I still get lost trying to find the bathroom in the middle of the night," Tabby added.

"Mm-hmm," Rogue barely heard what any of them were saying and was content to not be in the conversation. Like they cared that she was directionally challenged. She glanced up when she noticed they'd stopped talking. The three girls were looking back at her with amused looks on their faces. Tabby threw her arm around her shoulder, and Rogue willed herself not to flinch. That didn't work.

"Is it good coffee?" she teased.

"Great coffee," she clarified and shrugged her arm off of her shoulder. Despite the fact that she was covered from neck to toe, she wasn't comfortable with being touched. Especially by people she didn't half know. They moved on as did the conversation.

"So Kitty. What's deal with you and Lance?" Tabby asked with raised brow.

"Like, what deal? There is no deal," the blush spoke otherwise.

"Well, I mean the deal that has you talking to him at obscene hours of the night," they went through a massive door that slid open when they approached it.

"I do not."

"Really? 'Cuz last night, I could have sworn I heard you in your room telling someone named Lance that you would, like, totally love to go with him to the movies Friday," Tabby clasped her hands over her heart and giggled, fluttering her eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Kitty protested over Amara's laughter and Rogue's quiet snickering. "What about you and Pietro?"

She waved it away with a careless shrug.

"Casual dating."

"If it's so casual, why'd you blow up his locker when you found out he was taking Erica to the dance?" Amara asked with a quirked brow.

"I have to have a reason to damage school property now?" Tabby turned to address Rogue. "This is the Danger Room or the Torture Room or the Room That Was Created by a Sick Twisted Mind for the Sole Purpose of Ruining Teenage Self-Esteem."

"Or D.R. for short," Kitty chuckled at her friend.

"What are we talking about?" all the girls, except Rogue jumped, when Wade spoke up. He stood next to her, still unmasked, with a wooden bo stick strapped to his back.

"Where did, like, you come from?"

"It goes like this. When a mommy and daddy love each other very much, they show it by – "

Rogue smacked him upside the head.

"Ow," he stressed the word. "What? She asked."

She just looked at him.

Wade stared back, arms akimbo.

"Oh, She meant just now."

"Yeah, she meant just now."

"Well, there is a very interesting story for that. Last night – "

BAMF

"Ve're not late!" Bobby, Roberto, and Kurt appeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm amazed you girls beat us," Roberto remarked.

Tabby gave him the universal sign of 'Talk to the Hand'…or stop. It might be the continental sign, I don't know.

"Why can't I finish my sentences?" Wade pondered aloud.

"You just did," Amara pointed out.

"Oh yeah. I did, didn't I? I meant the important ones that matter though."

"Almost nothin' you say matters," Rogue stated as matter of fact.

"I gave you coffee. You should be nicer to me," he raised a hand to the half full cup.

"You wanna keep that hand?"

He drew it back, considering.

"You know, I actually do. I just got a manicure and everything, but my cuticles are still kind of messed up. Quan Li did not earn her paycheck this week."

"Shut up and listen," Wolverine barked as he entered the training room. He was wearing a black uniform with a belt with a yellow X. All chatter immediately stopped.

Wolverine stood before the group, looking them over. His gaze stopped at Rogue.

"No food or drink in the Danger Room."

"Mm," Rogue raised a hand and quickly chugged the last of the coffee, scalding her tongue only a little, and passed the cup to Wade. He stared at it, confused.

"Wait. I don't want this," he tried to give it back, but she folded her arms and looked away from him.

"I got it," Amara took the cup from him. A moment later, the cup was ashes on the floor.

"If you're all done, then –" the door opened and in came Scott, his forehead looking distinctly red and streaked with faint black marks. (lol) "we'll move on to the objective for today's mission," he glared at Scott as he walked over to the others, but that could have just been his face.

"Two four man teams will have to get from here to the center of the room. Whichever team gets there first with all of their members wins."

They glanced at each other, confused, and looked at the center of the completely obstacle free room.

"Is that it?" Scott asked.

Wolverine smirked.

"Of course not. You have to get through this. Computer, begin Rat Race level two."

A beam of green light appeared in the center of the room from floor to ceiling. Metal walls shot twelve feet up from the ground, surrounding the light and forming a maze around it. The light shrank down to form a ball and floated down out of sight. There were two entrances in.

"Pick your teams and go. The maze ain't the only thing that's gonna keep you from gettin' to the finish. Deadpool is one of them. I'll be watching from the control room."

He turned to go.

"Who's Deadpool?" Kurt asked.

"Hi!" he raised his hand and pulled on his mask.

"Any other questions? Good. Deadpool, get goin'."

"Sure thing, Jimmy," he strode off into maze, humming under his breath, and Wolverine departed out the door.

"I call dibs on the new girl!" Tabby looped her arm around Rogue who grimaced from the contact. She was sure, at times, that even if she didn't have this mutation, she'd still be adverse to people touching her.

"Let's do this boys against girls," Amara suggested.

"I didn't realize you girls were so big on losing," quipped Kurt.

"Them's bettin' words," Tabby challenged as Rogue gently disentangled their arm.

"Watcha got in mind?" Iceman asked.

"We're not betting on this," Cyclops piped in.

"Uh, this is a chalupa supreme conversation. Nachos," Boom Boom dismissed him.

"How 'bout the losers does the winners chores or whatever for a month and we move on with our lives," Rogue snapped, growing irritated with these people already.

"Deal," Boom Boom and Iceman shook hands, and she sprinted into the entrance on the left.

"Let's go, ladies!"

"Boom Boom, wait! We have to get there together," Shadowcat sprinted after her, Magma in tow with Rogue not far behind. She assumed the boys went the other way, not caring enough to check.

"Let's go left," Boom Boom cried, entirely too gung-ho for Rogue's liking.

"Would you, like, wait a minute? We can't just go off in whatever random direction you feel like. We have to think this through."

"We need to head east from here in order to get to the center ," Rogue told them.

"So I could just phase us through the whole way, no problem. Give me your hands," she held her hands out and Rogue scowled. She should have just kept her mouth shut. She sighed and took her hand.

They traveled that way for a while with Shadowcat in front, Rogue on her right, Boom Boom on her left, Magma holding on to Boom Boom, adjusting their course accordingly. And then the floor opened up. Shadowcat screamed when she almost fell in but the others pulled her back.

"Is he crazy?" she screamed. "I, like, could've broken something!"

Boom Boom leaned forward over the edge.

"I don't think it's deep enough for all that."

At that moment, Deadpool came tearing around the corner, pushed her in, and ran off yelling,

"TRAPPED IN A MAZE, THEREFORE I AM AMAZING!"

Magma threw a fireball at him, but he dodged it and disappeared around the corner.

"Well, that was random," Magma commented from where she was leaned on the wall.

Rogue looked around before cautiously making her way to the hole.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, the ground broke my fall," she called up from where she was sprawled on the floor.

Shadowcat joined her at the edge.

"She's fine if she's making LAME JOKES."

"How are we going to get her out though?" Magma started to move forward, Rogue stopped her.

"Keep a lookout for Deadpool or the boys."

"What are you doing?"

"Gettin' her out," she jumped down and landed in a crouch. Boom Boom applauded her.

"Nice form, great landing."

"Thanks. I'm gonna give you a boost and, Shadowcat, you pull her up," Rogue directed them and formed her hands in a step for her, and she was up and out in no time.

"Now how are you getting out?"

Rogue backed up, ran up the wall, jumped off to the opposite wall, did it twice more, and cleared the hole completely. The other girls gaped at her.

"Well, Amsterdam," Boom Boom muttered.

Rogue smiled at them.

"We goin' or what?"

"Upward and onward!" Boom Boom exclaimed and headed off.

"We're supposed to go east," Shadowcat interrupted.

"Isn't that where I'm going?"

"No…I don't think so. Is it?"

They looked at Rogue. She shrugged her shoulders and grunted an 'I don't know'.

"It all looks the same."

"Aw, tish! I'm going to have to wash Kurt's underwear for a month!" Boom Boom huffed and crossed her arms.

"Or you could blow it up," Magma suggested.

She immediately perked up at that.

"We ain't beat yet. I might be able to tell which way to go if y'all can get me to the top of the wall," she looked at them appraisingly.

"Can't you just do that jump thing? You gotta teach me that, by the way."

"Walls are too far apart. This'll be a lil' different. Now I need one of y'all to give me a leg up when I get to you."

Boom Boom took up position in front of one of the walls and cupped her hands.

"Sooner you go, the sooner the boys can get started on our chores."

Rogue ran to her, placed her foot in Boom Boom's hand, and launched herself up the wall. She managed to grip the ledge of the wall and haul herself up. She stood and balanced herself on the surface its width no more than six inches.

"Whoo! You're up. What do you see?"

"Gimme a minute," she took a look around. In the distance, the glow from the orb could be seen.

"We're not that far off. It's just over there," she pointed to what she assumed was east. Then to west, she heard faint screams and saw a red beam shoot up into the air. Either it was one of the maze traps, or Deadpool had found the boys.

"ARE YOU TOTALLY PSYCHO?"

"HAHAHAHA!"

It was probably Deadpool.

"Did you girls hear something?" Magma asked, her head tilted to the side.

"Just the boys screaming in pain," Boom Boom walked off in the direction indicated. "Let's go."

"What about Rogue?" Magma pointed at her. Rude much?

"I got it," she jumped off the wall and landed in a crouch.

"Ten point landing!" Boom Boom laughed.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the finish with Shadowcat phasing them through carefully avoiding traps. When they made it to the center, the orb shot into the air and burst apart.

"Session complete."

The walls slid down, revealing the room and Deadpool beating the boys with the bo stick.

"Knock it off, man!" Scott yelled from his fetal position on the ground. The others stood off a good distance.

"That's what I'm trying to do," he whacked him again. (lol)

"Stop hitting them. Session's over," Logan told them from over the intercom. "Everyone, hit showers."

"Dude, the girls won!" Roberto stated the obvious as Kurt helped Scott up, keeping a wary eye on Wade as he spun the staff.

"In your faces!"Tabby crowed. "High fives all around!" Kitty rolled her eyes but complied, as did Amara and Rogue, though begrudgingly.

"Hey, Rogue! Let's go get chimichangas," Wade bounded over to her while Tabby, Amara, and Kitty continued to taunt the boys.

"I don't really – "

"Please?" he tried puppy dog eyes from behind his mask.

"Wade, I don – "

"Please, please!"

She sighed.

"Can I shower first?"

"Why? It's not like you broke a sweat."

"Come on," she walked to the door. "I'll see y'all later."

Everyone said their good byes.

"Why do you need me?"

They walked out of the training room, and Rogue headed left.

"'Cuz I have no idea where I'm goin'."

Wade stood where he was.

"So is that why you're going to the med bay?"

She groaned, turned around, stalked the other way, and grabbed Wade's arm as she went by.

"You're hopelessly directionally challenged," he considered for a moment. "Unless it's important which is weird."

"Shut up."

* * *

A/N: Wow! Y'all's response for last chapter was wonderful. Thank you. lol Absolutely no one said anything in Scott's defense. The poor dear…lol

When I put 'like' in a sentence unnecessarily, y'all know who is speaking without me putting a name to it, right?

Y'all know what outfit I'm talkin' 'bout right? Back in chapter 4?

**Quick question: **Does X-23 have adamantium covering her whole skeleton or just her claws? Extremely necessary information.

So I changed the genre from romance to family because I'm fourteen deep and have only promised ROMY**, **hinted at JOTT, and teased with whatever Betsy and Warren are. This might spoil it for some but I think it's only fair to let my fellow ROMY shippers know that Remy is a bad guyish sort of person.(unless I change my mind) Certain events will be taken from cannon. Remy's appearance will be near Magneto's. Bear with me, all right? I have a plan…sort of. Also, the events of Asteroid M have already happened.

So it might take a lil' bit longer for updates 'cuz my bedtime (REALLY, mother?) has been changed to 11:00 and I babysit most of the day and my mom doesn't' want me to spend all my time on the laptop. And she uses this one too.

I need more DR session ideas.

I will ask a favor of you, my readers. If it would not trouble, I would request the honor of a review from you, dear readers. I sincerely thank you for your previous contributions, be they reviews, alerts, or favorites.

Man, writin' like that all the time would be a pain! Y'all do realize this is my first fic, right? I mean, I finished those other two, but I started this one first. Really, really, thank you.


	15. Just for the Sake of Going

Wow…Y'all have put this story with reviews in the hundreds. THANK YOU! Keep 'em comin'.

So I just went back and took the prank off. Didn't like how that turned out.

**Line break**

Over the last few days, things had fallen into a pattern. D.R. sessions in the mornings, breakfast, and whatever she wanted to do for the rest of the day. Mostly, she hung out with Wade and they'd train farther away from the main grounds. Logan came too. Sometimes, she hung out with the other kids in the Rec Room, watching t.v. or whatever but didn't make it a point to do so. Pretty normal stuff. Pretty boring.

Well, until that day in D.R. when everyone found out about her powers. She hadn't been trying to hide them. She just hadn't needed to use them and no one had asked but Betsy. It'd been a battle royal fight, everybody against anybody, powers allowed. At some point, she hadn't noticed she'd lost a glove and punched Berzerker in the eye. After she trounced everyone, they'd asked, she told, and they quietly freaked.

It was two days before spring break was over. All the other residents had come back: Jean, Evan, Ray, Sam, Alex, Rahne, Jubilee, Jamie, Danielle, Emma, and Forge. As well as the instructor, Ororo Munroe.

_Yay more people._

It wasn't that Rogue didn't like them. Well, except Emma. Everyone _else_ was nice. It was just too much at one time.

The professor, perhaps sensing this or having talked to Logan, had given her a room of her own in the girl's wing between Tabitha and Amara and Kitty and Danielle instead of boarding her with someone else. She'd decorated it similar to her old one, in deep purple, black, and silver tones.

Presently, it was just after dinner, and she was in the upstairs portion of the library, pulling another book to add to her stack of seven. She turned around, not even flinching at Wade standing right behind her, holding one of her books in his hand.

"Ooh, Agatha Christie! I was just talking about her the other day. I said I bet she's brilliant. Oh, I love her stuff. What a mind! She fools me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once. But it was a good one."

She took the book from, placing it on the table next to the others and her gloves.

"I'm bored."

She shrugged, moving past him.

"Not my problem," she sat down in a plush chair next to the, she was pretty sure, antique table that she'd set her books and gloves on.

He sank down to sit Indian style in front of her.

"Let's do something."

"I am," she opened her book.

"No, you're not. You're reading."

She ignored him.

"All three of us could go out for a night of family fun."

"Now why on earth would I want to do that?" she still had her eyes fixed on the book, though he could tell she wasn't reading.

"Because we haven't out together in the longest, and you're starting school in a couple of days and we'll never see each other and then next thing we know, you're off in college or something and come back a stranger," he nodded sagely.

She gave up the pretense of reading, leaning her head on a fist.

"Come on. You need to get out of the house anyway."

"What did you have in mind?" she sighed, acting very put out.

He smiled.

**Line Break**

"I appreciate you givin' Stripes her own room, Charles," Logan sat at the table in the large kitchen, with a dark mug of something alcoholic most likely.

The professor nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"She seems to be adjusting well, though it appears she takes after you a bit in her social graces," he quirked a brow.

Logan huffed, an indication of amusement.

"Well, that sure was an eloquent way to say she don't like people."

Wade came through the swinging door and went straight to the pantry, humming as he searched through it. He came out, carrying a bag of flour and set it on the counter. He then opened a cabinet, taking things out and rearranging them. He hadn't noticed them, it would seem.

The professor and Logan exchanged glances. Logan leaned back in his chair, bringing his mug to his lips, watching Wade cautiously as opposed to the professor's curiosity.

"Eureka!" he pulled a small dark bottle of something out of the cabinet. "Oh, wait no. Bad word," he made horizontal slashing motions with arms. "Sounds like Yuriko. Oh, no, no, no," he set the bottle next to the flour and turned to them.

"Where do you keep the duct tape and wire cutters?"

_Do not answer that_, Logan projected to him.

"I honestly have no idea," he told the truth.

"Just what are you doin' with that stuff?" Logan questioned.

"A project," he cradled the flour in his arm and tucked the bottle in the front pocket of his jeans.

"Will it damage anythin' or anyone in any way?"

"Only one on a mental and emotional level," he rocked back and forth on his feet, grinning.

Logan looked at him a long moment. Then jerked his head towards the door.

"Don't destroy anythin'."

"Coolness. Hey, do you know where that multiplying kid is? Never mind, I'll find him myself" he bounded to the door then stopped. "By the by, I'm gonna get Sunshine out of the house for a while. You wanna come?"

"I probably should. You two let each other get away with too much."

"Excellent," (think old school evil villain) and disappeared out the door.

"Should I be concerned?" Charles asked.

"Constantly," he drained the mug.

**line break**

"Just grab something, toss it on, and let's go already!" Wade moaned. He was straddling Rogue's rolling desk chair backwards as she went through her closet.

She paused and glanced at him.

"Are you rushin' me?"

"Yes! Yes, I am! You're acting like such a girl right now."

"Go figure," she tossed a dark blue shirt on her bed, leather jacket, black combat boots, and grey wash jeans followed.

"I wish we had a video camera."

"Why's that?" she moved to her black dresser and pulled out a pair of short, black silk gloves.

"I could have rigged it up to tape the fun. One bad thing about pranks, you usually aren't around to see the reactions."

"What prank?" she picked up her clothes and went behind a green Japanese screen that depicted a black and silver dragon situated in the corner opposite the door.

"What?"

"You said something about a prank."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you – you know what? Forget it."

"Hehe, I win. Hey," he stood and went to her black vanity, "were you planning on redoing your makeup?"

She hung her shirt over the screen.

"I'd planned to."

"Not anymore!" Wade picked up all her makeup and ran out of the room with it, slamming the door behind him.

Rogue poked her head around the screen.

"Idiot." In Rogue speech, that means 'I love that big doofus'.

She finished changing, sat down on her bed and pulled on her boots, tucking a knife in each. Picked up her jacket and went to the vanity to check her makeup. The mirror showed pale skin with dark eye shadow and mascara that accented silver eyes. Lips painted to match her skin tone. She deemed it presentable, pulled a brush through her straightened, shoulder length hair, and left.

After being here, she could make it to the bathroom, kitchen, library, Wade's room, Logan's, the D.R., and outside without much trouble. Logan and Wade were waiting for her in the foyer.

"See, I told you it was a good idea to take her makeup. She would have been up there another fifteen minutes, at least," he stood up when she made it to the bottom step.

Logan grunted as he pushed himself off the wall next to door.

"You comin' with us, old man?" she smiled at him.

"S'what it look like, don't it?"

"Yeah, great, we're all going, we're all happy about it," Wade moved behind Rogue, grabbed her by her shoulders, and forced her out the door. "So let's go!"

Logan sighed, followed them out, and shut the door behind him.

"Hopefully, we don't get arrested time."

**Line break**

They'd driven out of the mansion grounds through the gate single file, Wade in front on his red and white Ninja JXR, Rogue on her black and green Harley, and Logan in back on his blue Harley. When they hit the highway, they broke the formation, as well as several traffic laws, and weaved dangerously in and out of traffic, racing for the front position.

After riding for over an hour, they followed Wade to a sports bar called Harry's, dismounted, and went inside. It was large, with a bar running in front of the back wall, a t.v. was mounted on it, that stopped halfway across, tables scattered throughout with a few patrons, and two pool tables to the left, both in use. Three booths on the right wall. A door to the back led to the card tables, one on the right to the bathrooms. Sports memorabilia hung from the walls.

"I'm gonna catch a game," Rogue was already moving off to the tables.

Logan grunted and settled onto a stool at the bar, Wade next to him.

Rogue could see that the game on her left had just started but the one on her right was just about to wrap up. A teenaged boy with brown hair in a brown vest over a black t-shirt over ripped jeans held his cue stick in hand as he smirked at his opponent as the older, rotund man tried to find an angle among the impossible shots.

"Mind if I play winner?" she deliberately let her southern twang into the question.

The boy glanced at her, brown eyes considering.

"You got cash, you got a game," he smiled at her.

"Hey, this game's not over yet," the man snarled at the boy who coolly held up his hands in surrender, thumb holding up the cue stick.

"I didn't say it was, Randy. Just lettin' her know the rules," he nodded towards the table. "Still your shot."

"I know that," Randy moved around the table.

"Of course you did," he winked at her, and she rolled her eyes at him then turned her attention back to the table, arms crossed. Right off, she saw three possible shots from where she stood and wondered why Randy – oh. He took a long swig from a beer bottle that had been sitting on the edge of the table. She caught the boy's glance and he shrugged.

Randy wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve and sloppily leveled a shot at the cue ball that could only guess had been supposed to hit the striped nine. It didn't. It bounced off the table, and the boy ducked just in time before it hit the wall behind him. The boy bent and picked up the ball setting it on the table and smiled in Randy's glaring face.

"So, my turn then."

He wasted no time in setting up the cue ball, lining up the shot and sinking the solid four. Moved around the table for the last shot, the eight ball. Sank it.

"Good game," he held his hand out to Randy, smirk still in play. Randy scowled at him, threw the cue stick on the table, and stormed out the door. The boy picked up the wad of cash that had been on the line and counted it.

"We'll start at a hundred and work our way up. I hope you're not a sore loser," he told her casually, laying five bills on the table.

"Hmm, funny," Rogue matched his amount and started arranging the balls in the rack, "I was just gonna say the same to you."

"Ladies break," he gestured to the table.

"Then by all means," she stepped back.

He laughed.

"Beauty before skill," he insisted.

"Back me in a corner, why dontcha?" she said as she conceded and lined up a shot. Pulled back and hit. She sank two striped balls and one solid.

"Huh," the boy rubbed his chin with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she grinned at him, rounding the table, and sank a solid ball.

"Lucky shot."

"All three of 'em? Really? Sugar, I ain't never been that lucky," the next shot she missed.

"I am not lettin' you get another shot," he announced as he took his turn. Sank a striped ball. "I'm Lance, by the way."

"Rogue."

"You're new here."

"What was your first clue?" the game continued, the two talking as they played.

"Your twang's still pretty strong. It's cute though."

"I know, thanks."

He laughed.

The first game ended in Rogue winning, but Lance immediately wanted a rematch. He won that one and Rogue called for a tie-breaker. The whole time, Rogue could feel Logan and Wade watching from the table they'd moved to. Yes, her boys were paranoid, but she loved them anyway.

"Wait. You live at Xavier's?" Lance clarified as they moved away from the tables. Apparently, the two huge bikers felt they weren't sharing.

"Yeah. So what?"

"So you're an X geek."

"Excuse me?" she planted her fists on her hips, eyebrow arched. She could feel her boys tense from where they watched and relaxed her stance.

"I don't mean anything by it. It's more like a term of endearment we have for you guys," he teasesd. "If it happens to annoy most of you, it's a bonus for us."

"Who's us?" they settled on stools at the bar.

"The Brotherhood boys."

"You're in a gang?"

He chuckled.

"No, though I guess the name does kinda sound like it. Maybe we should change it. It's really just a boarding house run by this woman. The boarders have to be talented though."

"As in what?"

"This," he put one foot on the ground and strained. The earth shook a moment, but most of the patrons didn't notice. He stopped and so did the quake.

"Oh, that kind of talent," Rogue thought a moment. "There a boy named Petro or somethin' at your house?"

"Pietro. Why?"

"Duh," she slapped her forehead lightly. "Your Kitty's Lance."

"Did she say that?" Interesting. Apparently belonging to Kitty got the boy excited.

"Not in so many words. You her boyfriend?"

"We're…I don't know. I just," he rubbed his chin. "I don't even know. Sometimes she likes me, I think she does anyway. Then other times, I'm not even there," he leaned his arms on the bar.

"She's got you goin' through hoops, huh?"

"Bending over backwards. I mean, what?" he threw his arms up in the air. "Does she want me defect to her side or something? What do you think?"

"Why you askin' me?"

Lance shrugged, "You're a girl, you know her, you gotta have something!"

"Not really, sugar. I got a very sad, pathetic love life. I'm the last girl you wanna ask."

He sighed and sank back to the bar. Well, crap. She couldn't just leave the poor boy in a funk.

"You seem like a nice guy. If she can't see that, then maybe you need a new girl or just give it all a break for a while, you know. If she can't be real with you or appreciate what you do for her, you don't have to put up with it."

_Yeah_, she thought to herself, _that sounded pretty good._

_I concur_, agreed some random psyche who was rudely shoved to the back of mind.

"Yeah. Maybe," he sat up and turned to her, "Thanks."

"Forget about it," she waved it away. "No really. You and me, we did NOT have this conversation."

"Same here. Gotta keep up appearances, right?" he smiled at her.

"Exactly," she returned his smile.

"Rogue," Logan called to her from the door, "Let's go."

She turned back to Lance who was looking at Logan curiously.

"The heck is that?"

"My keeper," she hopped off the stool. "See ya 'round."

"Soon, hopefully. Give me a chance to win back my money."

"Ha. Luck with that."

She walked to the door and smiled at Logan as she went by.

"Hi there."

He grunted as he followed her out.

"What was that about?"

"What? Lance? Gettin' some easy cash, info gatherin', makin' a friend. Apparently, we'll be goin' to the same school. What you think it was?"

He gave her a look.

She laughed.

"Where's our boy?" she asked him.

"Somewhere durin' his monologue, he mentioned somethin' 'bout chimichangas and bolted."

"Oh dear."

"To put it mildly."

**Line break**

"So let me get this straight," Wade had his arms folded over his chest as he stood at the counter of Jose's Mexican, open twenty-four hours and glared poisoned daggers at the pimpled youth behind the counter.

"Peter," he read the name from the kid's name tag. "This establishment is a Mexican restaurant. On a regular basis, this restaurant has been known to serve chimichangas. However, there is only one employee who knows how to make them. And that employee, Willie," he glanced at the employee of the month board, "broke his leg skydiving. I got that right, Peter?"

"Yes, sir," he gulped nervously.

"Interesting. Hey, Petey. What do you say we go visit old Willie, huh?"

"Well, sir, I don't think –"

He was cut off when Wade grabbed the collar of his shirt and hauled him over the counter and out the door and to his bike.

"You're right. You don't think. You direct. Get on," he demanded.

Poor Peter did, too frightened to do anything but obey. Wade got on, started the engine, and revved the motor.

"This is kidnapping," Peter told him.

"No. This is customer service. And Petey," he spun the bike around, revving it again. "The customer is always right."

And tore out the parking lot right in front of an oncoming mack truck, laughing as Peter screamed at the top of his lungs.

**Line break**

**A/N: ** So she met Lance and she'll meet the others at school tomorrow because I feel this chapter is long enough and I don't want to crowd it. But guess what? The Brotherhood boys are going to be competent idiots instead of useless idiots. I say idiots 'cuz they're boys and those dudes have problems, I mean they just do the dumbest things. On the show, they didn't win until Wanda, a girl, showed up. To me, that's just bad writing on the show's part.

And no, that is not Lance/Rogue. That is just friendly conversation, maybe flirting if you want it to be, but it's not going to go anywhere.

If anyone has a better back story for why Rogue and Emma don't get along, I'd love for you to share. I just…got nothin'. At all. You'll be credited, of course, shout out and everything.

The Agatha Christie thing is a slightly reworded quote from a t.v series, the name I don't know. time travelling doctor or something. Doctor Who

Youtube: mercyme girls just wanna have fun. I procrastinate like I get paid for it.

I really didn't know that Wade actually bust out into random singing. I read Deadpool: Secret Invasion (so awesome and funny. He is in fact a mad genius) and he did that three times.

I think I'll do another chapter of this before I update 'Scenes'. I make no promises though.

I do NOT want any comments about the pool terminology from ANY of you.


	16. Name Those Movies

**This is a repost. The pranks were removed.**** Attention somebody:** I got into a very short PM discussion with one of you about Emma but I don't remember who and I can't find what I sent you in my Outbox or anything. It was concerning Emma's back story. If you could copy and paste and send it to me that would be great. Seriously, I need that.

A very special thank you to:

BabyBeaver

GhostAuthor

J. J. Bean

Lupa Dracolis

A thousand and one thank-yous.Y'all are wonderful.

**

* * *

**

"_You have a choice, Cole. Save the one or save many," Kessler's gravelly voice called down to me from the top of the building. _

"_Choose quickly."_

_Next to him, Trish hung from a cord high above the ground, gagged and blindfolded, her bound hands attached to a pole above her head, the only thing keeping her up. I took a step forward, hesitating a moment. Then I bolted in the other direction to save the seven doctors first. I could make it in time. I knew I could. There were Reavers, I don't how many, trying to stop, trying to slow me down. I let lightning fly. They didn't have a chance. I jumped onto a streetlight then scaled the building next to it faster than I ever had before. I ran jumping across the rooftops 'til I made it to the skyscraper where the seven doctors dangled above the earth like Trish. I _almost_ went back for her, my gut clenching at leaving her with that madman. But I had made my choice. I was here now, and time was running out. I ran to the generator to drain the timer with the cords holding the hostages up connected to it._

"_How noble of you, Cole," Kessler spoke through my headset as I _pulled_ the energy out. "I didn't think you would make it in time. But unfortunately, I can't allow Trish to live."_

"_No."_

_I turned and saw one of the doctors, a woman with short black hair, fall down and out of view. _

"_COLE!"_

_She must have worked the gag loose. She screamed. _

_It was Trish. She was screaming and falling and I was _so_ close. But I couldn't save her. She was too far, it was too high. It wasn't high enough. I couldn't. Seconds, minutes, hours, I didn't know, she stopped screaming. I didn't hear her._

_I didn't save her._

_I screamed._

_I died.___

* * *

Rogue's eyes snapped open as she sat upright in her bed, panting heavily. Her heart beat a fast, steady rhythm, trying to get out of her chest. And her heart _ached._ She gasped from the pain, breaking out in heaving sobs and mourned. For herself, for Cole, for Trish.

A low moan came from her throat despite her efforts to keep it silent and worked itself up to a high keening. She pressed her face into her pillow, soaking the pillow. It was at times like this, when she cried over the pain, when she _felt_ the pain of losing the one someone was in love with, she was _almost _okay with the fact that she would never love anyone like that.

After a long while, Rogue stopped crying and just lay there staring into her dark room. She glanced at her clock and it told her it was a quarter after five. Knowing she wasn't going back to sleep, she sat up, got out of bed, and left her room, pulling on one of Logan's flannel shirts over her sleeveless shirt and sweatpants. She stood out in the hall, thinking for a moment and went left, no right, eventually making it downstairs. She easily made it to the Rec. Room from there. She picked up the remote, flopped down on the couch, and flicked the TV on.

While she was watching Cary Grant trying to seduce a judge while trying to un-seduce her younger sister, Logan came up behind her and leaned on the back of the couch.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"Same to you." she didn't look away from the TV.

"What was yours about?"

"Cole. When Trish died. Yours?"

"Same old. Need anything?"

_Control_, was the first thought in her head.

She looked at him.

"Can I have some ice cream?"

"Neapolitan?"

"Seriously? Like there's anything else worth it."

"Hm," he grunted and walked out. Soon, he returned with a bowl and spoon, handed it to her, and settled down wordlessly next to her on the armrest.

"Thank you, Daddy."

A grunt was his reply.

She turned her attention back to Cary just as he came up with a brilliant idea to discredit himself to the younger sister. She loved this part. She turned the t.v on mute and said aloud,

"You remind me of a man," she sent him an amused glance.

Logan turned his head to look her right in the eye.

"What man?"

"A man with the power."

"What power?"

"The power of who-do."

"Who do?"

"You do."

"Do what?"

"Remind me of a man."

"What man?"

She huffed a laugh and returned to her ice cream, t.v. still on mute.

"You've seen that movie at least twelve times. Why do you like it so much?"

"Love it," she corrected and took another spoonful before answering. "And it's a classic love tale from this era of movie making. One hates the other then gets to know him/her and fall in love in a humorous and a moving fashion. The plot for this is good, too. If this movie were to be done now there'd be a lot of cursing and sex scenes, you know? Which is not necessary for a good movie."

He blinked.

"Uh-huh."

"Plus," she pointed her spoon at the t.v., "Cary Grant is _fine._"

"You're such a weird kid," it was a matter of fact that he'd called attention to over the years.

"An accident of my birth," she smirked at him.

He rolled his eyes.

"But because I love you, and I've seen this move _twenty-one_ times, we'll watch somethin' else," she sat cross-legged with the bowl between her legs, spoon in one hand, remote in the other.

Flipping rapidly through the channels, declaring them either 'crap' or 'not as crappy but who really wants to watch that?', she stopped on a scene of a Mexican man tied on the back of a blond man's horse, cursing him and his mother, just plain bastardizing him.

"Oh, yeah!" she dropped the remote onto the couch and scooted over to Logan, leaning on his arm.

"Number forty-two. I don't even want to know why," he raised his arm and moved it to the back of the couch and Rogue leaned her back on his torso and decided to tell him anyway.

"The idea of the good guy not being a total boy scout is really very cool and a total initiative step for movies of this time. I mean, he left him in a desert! He kinda reminds of Wade a lil' bit. And then the bad, Angel Eyes, is just straight evil selfishness. Though dressing him in black the whole movie must have been torture but then you never see them sweating. Hmm. But his role as the bad is blatant by the use of black in his costume. That wouldn't fly now. The guy in Matrix wore black too. What a weird movie."

He let her talk, ramble. It was her. Not them. Rogue was talking, not them. They were not. She was living, and it was her choice to live her life in that moment rambling to her father about her personal views of the filmmaking industry. It was _her_.

She was okay.

**

* * *

**

Hours later, the sun had long since risen above the trees over the Institute. The television was muted on the news and Logan still sat on the couch except now his arm was over his daughter as she slept against him. He wasn't terribly comfortable at the moment, but he didn't mind. Rogue was sleeping peacefully and he had no intention of disturbing that. Because he really didn't want to deal with a sleep deprived Rogue.

He smiled just a tee notchy bit, remembering when she was little and how she acted back then. And how utterly overwhelmed he'd been at raising a little girl. Well, he'd raised that little girl the best he could figure out and now she was a young woman, legally an adult. He'd see over the years if anything he'd taught her and raised her to be would be any good to her.

"Photo op," Wade jumped in front of the t.v. and snapped a few shots with a digital camera, twisting his body in different angles and throwing himself on the ground. When he was done, he lay on his back going through the pictures on the camera.

"You look serious."

"Did you do anythin' illegal last night?"

"It's legal in Siberia," Wade commented off-handedly. "But no worries. They were nothing that would get us noticed by government goonies. Though I wouldn't mind a little action."

"What? Schoolin' these kids ain't enough excitement for ya?"

"Being 'accidentally' set on fire can only thrill a man so much."

"You know they do it just to watch the skin grow back."

"Sometimes, _I_ do it just to watch the skin grow back."

"You reek."

"Really?" he raised his arm and sniffed. "But I don't wanna take a bath. You know what they should do? Make a pill that you could take that would just clean you and I wouldn't have to take a bath. Wouldn't that be great? Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Were you talkin'?"

"Fine. Whatever. I don't need this," he got up and walked toward the door. "I'm going to go talk to someone who will actually listen to me."

Not ten minutes later, there was a loud thud from upstairs, a yell, someone cursing in German, more yelling, a splash and then

BAMF

Kurt 'ported into the Rec. Room in front of Logan wearing only his boxers and looking irritated.

"Was ist mit ihm?" he asked no one in particular, having switched to German. (What is with him)

"Warum bist du so dang Menschen laut in den Morgen?" Rogue muttered in German as she woke up glaring at the blue boy in front of her.(Why are you people so dang loud in the mornings)

"It's not mien fault!" Kurt defended, waving his arms around. "Wade vas in mien room, sitting in my chair, talking about doorknobs! Vhat die Holle!"

She sat up, "He does that," she stretched and felt and heard her back pop. "Ow."

Logan snorted and stood.

"Which is why you're supposed to sleep in your bed," he told her, walking out the door.

She stuck her tongue out at his retreating back.

"I heard that."

She rolled her eyes.

"Heard that, too."

"He doesn't let you get avay vith much, does he?" Kurt asked her after he thought Logan was out of earshot.

"You'd be surprised," she smirked at him, standing from the couch. "You know how to get to the kitchen?"

"Of course," he gave her a toothy grin, obviously gotten over his irritation with Wade at the idea of food. "Be zhere faster zhan you can say," he put a hand on her covered shoulder, "Vade,"

BAMF

"is your insane uncle," he let go of her shoulder and spread his arms wide, presenting the vast kitchen to her.

Rogue tried to force her not to react to him touching her. She was covered, she was safe, he was safe. Still, she shuddered. Kurt noticed and frowned.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out," he held up his hands and backed up a step.

"Kurt, no. I didn't mean nothin' like that. You don't freak me out. I just…get a little anxious, I guess, when people touch me."

He tilted his head to the side.

"Because of your powers?"

"Yeah."

He nodded.

"I get vhat you're saying. Some people find this a little creepy."

She waved that away.

"Some jerks think I'm creepy. What do they know?"

She smiled at him.

"I mean, come on. Who could not love the fuzzy dude?"

He laughed.

"I like zhat. Fuzzy dude. But zhere is something I must know," he looked at her, very serious. "Can you cook?"

Rogue raised a finger and moved to the fridge, pulled it open, and emerged with a box of toaster waffles.

"That'll work."

* * *

"Yo, Lance, where ya been?" a thin, teenaged boy hopped down a flight of stairs as Lance came through the front door.

"Why're you up so early?" he asked, ignoring the question and hoping the boy would drop it.

"You kiddin' me? You can hear Freddy snorin' from here," he leaned on the stair banister and yelped when it broke under his weight.

"Ow," the boy said from his new position on the floor.

Lance chuckled at him and offered him a hand up.

"You okay, Toad?"

"Yeah," he glanced at the stairs. "I won't be when the boss lady gets back."

"Worry about her when she gets back from her trip. We might be able to fix before she gets back though."

"You think?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's see if we can find some super glue."

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **If you're confused about the dream/memory sequence in the beginning, good. If you don't get it, I'll clarify or you could go to wiki and put in InFAMOUS. I don't remember the words and I didn't check them. That was adlib and what I remember from the game. It's mostly right.

Should I put the translations at the bottom instead of next to the text?

**I have a poll on my profile concerning 'Scenes from a Rogue Life'. Check it out and vote please.**

I decided to get rid of the prank because really Emma hadn't done anything to get such a brutal response and then I realized that I would have to focus on Emma a lot more than I wanted to. So none of that.

Why don't Emma and Rogue get along? Well, most of you said it was because Emma is a B!t*h. But in every version, Emma started it. By breathing.

To **Kii and everyone else**: I KNOW ok? All of you, I know Remy needs to get his butt in the story but I don't want to throw him in like I did in the Disney adventures and Rogue still has a lot of other people to meet and connect with before that happens. I mean, what? You want her to see her mom and Remy at the same time? NO. One of you already figured that there is gonna be a sequel to this, though I have no idea how long this will end up being. And I might start a totally unrelated AU before that. There are at least 5 different ways for me to introduce Remy and I don't know which one to choose.

It's been said that X-23 only has adamantium on her claws in the comics, but in Evo, she might have gone through the whole process, I'm not sure. I think I'll just put it on her claws.

Since X-23 is Logan's clone, genetically she is him, like a twin. As far as I understand, Logan's DNA was used to create Wade's healing factor, genetically making them brothers. In my version of them, Logan and Victor are half brothers. So Wade is Logan's, Victor's, and X-23's brother and actually Rogue's uncle. To Rogue, X-23 is, well, like her aunt because Logan would be like her twin there's just a few decades difference between their births. Everyone follow my logic? But someone said that she has half Logan's half that blondheaded, tanned woman scientist. So, Clone Twin or Clone Daughter?

Also if the updates come slowly now, it's 'cuz I got some life goin' on and the 'Scenes' story, and I started a little Avatar fic for short stories that pop into my head which is in turn giving. If you like Mai&Zuko, check that out. And just for the fun of it, I'm tryin' to figure out the cast for Puss in Boots gone Evo following Chellerbelle's style.


	17. It Was on a Monday

xXWingedWereFoxXx: Whoo! You're a fellow survivor! Yeah, Iceman. And she has Kurt, the true King of Pranks on her side. Maybe. Really, the third one? Well, sure why not?(rearranges the numbers)

anna: The movie was _The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer_. I have no idea what a bobby-soxer is. The other one was _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_, which I love.

JediMutant93: Of course there will be some. So from what you say, X23 is his daughter. Well, then, I guess that doesn't really change any of my half-baked schemes(because 'plot' [lol] is a funny word) Any info you feel like givin', continue to cough it up thanks.

Alexis: Yeah, I like the input too. It's like Marvel tries to make it complicated and traumatizing for their characters. So she's his daughter, Rogue's sister, and Wade's new niece. Hehe 'I'm an uncle twice!'

Too lazy to login to : I like you. You're silly.

**

* * *

**

Monday morning bloomed bright and glorious on Westchester, New York. The residents of the Institute didn't get the chance to notice. It was the first day back to school after spring break and it was chaos. Most of the boys had already thrown some clothes on and were downstairs gorging themselves on breakfast and watching TV, just killing time. In the girls' wing, they were rushing around trying to find a shoe to the one they had on their foot, trying to beat down the doors to the bathrooms, and painstakingly applying makeup.

Except in one room. In one room, Rogue was still asleep, milking blessed slumber for as long as she possibly could. Yesterday, she'd hung out with Kurt. He'd showed her around the grounds a little bit more and gotten her caught up in a game of soccer with the other kids, powers allowed. Their team won. She'd been exhausted when she dragged herself to bed last night. This morning? Whatever. Point is she was the only girl still in bed.

Her door hit the wall with a bang and Logan went to the window and pulled open the curtain. Rogue mumbled and rolled over.

"Stripes," he barked out, going to the side of her bed. "You wake?"

"Sure."

"Get up."

She didn't move.

"That wasn't a suggestion."

Reluctantly, Rogue sat up but still had her eyes closed and hugging her pillow in front of her.

"What?" she whined.

Logan barked a laugh. She looked like she did when she was a kid in that moment.

"You got school today, kid. Get ready."

"I can't go to school."

"Why?"

"Uhm…my brain's not workin'."

"Uh-huh. You're goin'. Get out of the bed, now."

She stood up, opened her eyes, and squinted against the sun, still holding the pillow. Logan walked to the door.

"Don't get back on that bed," he paused at the door, "Or the floor or the chair," and shut the door.

"Well, he just thought of everything, didn't he."

Forty minutes later, Rogue was out of the shower, dressed in her usual dark style, made up and riding down the elevator to the garage with her green backpack slung over her shoulder. It would have taken her less time, but Miss 'Yes-that's-my-natural-hair-color-Jean' wouldn't get out of the bathroom before she brushed her hair just so many times if the mansion had been on fire. And the fact that there were now burns and scorched wall in that hall were not her fault. Amara was the one with fire abilities and the one easily talked into things. They'd just barely managed to convince Tabby not to blow the door.

When the doors opened, Scott was leaning against his red sports car.

He glanced at the door and saw Rogue.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

"Eh."

"Not a fan of mornings?"

"Monday mornings to be exact," she walked towards her bike, parked near the wall.

"I know what you mean. Yours?" he asked, indicating her bike.

"Nah, Logan's actually a real big fan of purple," she tied a black scarf around her hair.

BAMF

"Do not leave vithout me!" Kurt 'ported halfway between the two. After him, the deluge. The rest of the students came tearing in as well. Kitty phased through the ceiling and bolted for Jean's SUV with agrip on Danielle.

"Dibs on Jean's new ride!"

"Would you slow down?"

"I call the other seat," Amara said as she came out of the elevator along with the other students.

"What the lass said," Rahne right after her.

BAMF

Kurt 'ported into the passenger seat of Scott's car before anyone else could get there. Sam ran for the backseat and hopped in along with Alex.

"All right, that's enough. Anyone else can get a ride in the X Van," Scott told them and got behind the wheel.

"Oh, come on, Scott. You got room for one more," one of the kids whined.

"Not comfortably. Besides, I don't ride five deep," he started the car.

"Plenty of room for the ladies right here," Alex joked, patting his lap, getting a big laugh from everyone before Scott pulled off.

"All right, ladies, let's get going," Jean said when she finally came out of the elevator.

"It's about time!"

The other teens were already climbing in the X van.

"I can get somebody," Rogue said.

"I call it!" Tabby called from inside the van and climbed over several people to get out, scurrying over to Rogue's bike. "Way too crowded."

"You know how to ride?" she tossed a helmet to her from one of the side tables.

"Of course."

"All right," Rogue mounted the bike. "There any coffee shops on the way to school?"

Tabby climbed on behind her.

"Homestyle or fancy Italian stuff?"

"Whatever comes first," she revved the bike and peeled out, leaving a black stripe on the ground.

Jean pulled out a lot more calm than her just-friends boyfriend and Rogue, leaving the students to ride in the X van. Somehow, Jamie had ended up getting shotgun while the older kids settled in the back. After he buckled himself in, he turned wide, innocent eyes to the driver.

"Good morning."

"Morning, kid," he glanced in his rearview mirror. "Everyone, sit down and buckle up. Hey, you with the face! Yeah, you. Didn't I say buckle up? If I have to come back there and show you how to buckle yourself in, I will beat you with the belt buckle. We clear? Good."

Wade waited for the kids to buckle themselves in while singing 'Shut Up and Drive' before he slowly pulled the van out. And slowly drove down the driveway. The students glanced at each other and then at Wade.

"Mr. Wilson, we're going to be late if you drive this slow, you know?" Forge pointed out.

"Shh. I know what I'm doing. If I go to fast, I might lose control and crash the van and all of you will die and then you'll never even make it to school. I'm saving your lives," he told them with a nod.

Actually, Logan had told him in no uncertain terms that he better not see him tearing out of here on two wheels with a van full of adolescents or he'd gut him. They did not need to give Charles a reason to kick them out because he was endangering the lives of his students. And even though getting gutted wasn't much of an issue, it was not a pleasant experience. Once was enough, thank you. Nine was just indulgent.

Which is why after he passed through the gate and was down the road a little ways, he stomped on the gas.

"Oh, wow! It goes fifteen to seventy in four point two! In your face, Rihanna," he said but couldn't really be heard over the fearful screams of the students. The next turn he took had the van on two wheels.

"Who's gonna be late? Not you guys!"

"YOU'RE TOTALLY PSYCHOTIC!" Jubilee screamed.

"Thank you! Someone finally sees the difference."

* * *

The van came screeching into the high school parking lot. It then drifted sideways so that it was parked perfectly parallel to the sidewalk in front of the school. The passenger doors were immediately thrown open as soon as it stopped moving. Evan was seated next to the door, tried to lunge out of his seat, and choked himself with the seat belt. The rest of the teens either ran for the building, dropped to their in thanksgiving, or threw themselves on the ground. Bobby actually kissed it.

"That…was just skill. And a lot of practice. And quite a few wrecks. But heck, they weren't my cars," Wade shrugged. "But once you got it, you got it. I'll pick you guys up after school," he called to them, put the van in reverse and somehow managed to get into the flow of traffic and out of sight in less than two minutes.

A few minutes after they'd gotten over their early morning trauma, Scott and Jean pulled in. They, unfortunately, had to park near the Brotherhood boys.

"X geeks! We missed you guys," Lance called from his jeep.

"Just ignore him. We don't want to get into anything on the first day back," Scott warned.

"You may not vant to," Kurt muttered, glaring at Lance and Toad in intervals.

"Kurt," Jean said as she stepped out of her SUV, "Scott's right. Do you think all of you could try not to get in trouble?"

The younger students all glanced at each other and shrugged.

"We really dinna know,"Rahne said, pulling her pack over her shoulder..

"Yeah, it's not like we plan things to do," Amara put in.

"Sometimes," Alex added.

"Aw, come on, Alex. You're my brother. You should have my back on this."

"Right. Sorry. I'll totally behave. All of will, right?"

Nobody said anything.

"Oh come on! Sam, you gotta be with me on this."

"I don't make promises I can't keep. Sorry."

"Yo! You guys too good to talk to your old pals?" Toad was hanging off the bar of the jeep as he taunted them.

"Ve aren't your pals, Tolansky."

Rahne and Amara eased away from the coming conflict and headed indoors.

"Oh, please," Pietro ran in front of Scott's car and leaned on it, "You know you love us."

"Off the car," Scott made a swipe at empty air. Pietro was now standing next to Jean.

"How ya doin', Red?"

"I'm great, Pietro," she sighed, used to his routine of trying to piss Scott off. What was really annoying is that it worked. A lot.

"There probably still mad about getting their butts handed to 'em last time," Fred laughed.

"Yo, you guys should have seen your faces. You were all 'Please, no! Have mercy on us, yo!" Todd rolled around on the ground, reenacting the moment as his friends laughed with him. The other students in the parking lot had stopped pretending to be doing something else and were waiting for a fight to break out. They didn't know why the kids at the Xavier Institute didn't like the Brotherhood boys; they just knew that between the two, a good fight was inevitable.

"We did not beg!" Alex sounded outraged at the very idea.

Pretty soon, the boys were all yelling at each other, even Sam. Pietro was just that good. Jean left a while ago, already sick of it. Before it could come to blows,

"What do you think you're doing?"

The Brotherhood boys immediately stopped and turned around to face Wanda who was glowering at them. Or that could just be her face. Pietro rushed to his sister.

"Nothing. Uh, just welcoming the X geeks back to school. And then they wanted to be sore losers about last time."

"You know she doesn't want us causing trouble now that she's back," Wanda warned her brother.

"Hey, Wanda, we didn't start it," Lance defended them.

"Yes, you did," Scott accused.

"We said 'hi'!" Lance said exasperated.

"Whatever. You guys aren't worth the time," Scott grabbed his bag and walked to the door, his brother and Kurt following behind. Kitty and Danielle turned to go as well, but Lance's voice stopper her.

"Kitty. Can we talk?"

"Sure. You go ahead, Danielle."

"Are you sure," Danielle looked wearily at Lance and his group. She wasn't officially apart of the X-Men yet, but she'd heard about them. All bad, of course.

"Yeah. Go ahead. I'll catch up with you."

Danielle conceded and went inside while Lance and Kitty went a ways off to talk.

"Kitty and Lance sittin' in a tree," Todd started to sing and do a dance, "K-I-S-S-I- Hey!" he yelped when the earth beneath him started to shake and he fell on his butt.

A purple and black motorbike shot across traffic into the parking lot and pulled to a stop in front of the rack that is reserved for bicycles. The girl on the back hopped off, removing her helmet.

"Whoo! I need one of those. Hey, you think Logan or Wade would let me borrow theirs sometime?"

Rogue pulled off her own helmet and scarf and stuffed it in the helmet.

"Yeah, that'll happen. When someplace very, very hot gets very, very cold."

"What? Oh…Well, how about you?" Tabby set her helmet down on the seat.

"No way is that ever gonna happen.

"Fine! We can just forget the whole thing then," Kitty came around the corner and ran into Tabby.

"Whoa, girl. Where's the fire?" she paused. "Are you crying?"

"I'm okay. I just need to be, like, alone right now."

"A little hard since school starts in about two minutes," Rogue commented.

"What happened?"

"Me and Lance broke up. But it doesn't matter because I, like, so don't care. Excuse me," she rushed past them inside.

"Aw, poor kid. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but that's been coming for a long time now. You don't even know. But come on, the first day back? Boys. So, we goin' in or ditching school. Hello?"

Rogue was biting her lip and tugging on a strand of hair, just barely paying Tabby the least bit of attention. She felt slightly worried and a little guilty for Kitty and Lance's break up. Well, Tabby had said that it was bound to happen anyway. What had she said to the boy anyway?

"Come on, new girl," Tabby looped her arms around Rogue's, effectively breaking her reverie. "Do you have these space out moments a lot or what?"

"Only on Mondays," she replied as she was practically dragged up the stairs. She pulled open the door and was about to step in when Lance came around the corner, followed by his boys.

"Hey, Lance," Tabby called to him. "Seven days!"

**

* * *

**

A/N: I stopped there because I've been working on this chapter way too long.

**Attention somebody:** I got into a very short PM discussion with one of you about Emma but I don't remember who and I can't find what I sent you in my Outbox or anything. It was concerning Emma's back story. If you could copy and paste and send it to me that would be great. Seriously, I need that.

What the heck is Forge's real name? Just how many does the X Van seat? Is Tolanski spelled right or is it with a 'y'? Would a Logan/Raven pairing be Ragan? Mysterine? Wolverique? Loven? These are the things I must know. I like how the 1st and 3rd sound. What do y'all think?

That 'beat you with a belt buckle' thing is because of this youtube video with Bonquiqui (sp?). Pretty funny.

**Check out the poll on the profile people. What next?**

You guys have to read **J. J. Bean**'s stories. If nothing else, Kiss Her Already!, Pancakes, and PAE but you have to read Pancakes before you read PAE. They're really good.

Thanks to everyone for reviewing and continue to do so. Merci, Danke, Much obliged, and every other way to express my sincerest appreciation and gratitude.


	18. That It All Began

"Jimmy! Yo, Jim," Logan was seated at the end of the long table in the kitchen enjoying a sandwich while Hank talked to Ororo about Shakespeare or some other dead guy at the island when Wade burst through the door. Wade marched up to the opposite end and slammed his hands face down on the table top.

"Am I the only one who outraged by this insult?" Wade did not raise his voice, but menace was clear in his tone. Hank and Ororo exchanged a look.

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Answer me this: Do I not kill people? I don't just mean Carolina. In the past, have I not shown myself to be talented in the art and act of ending human life? Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Yes! Yes!" he threw his arms in the air, "Thank you. So please, PLEASE explain to me why these chuckleheads seem to think that I am an incompetent psychotic moron rather than a competent psycho with a lot of guns and knives with extensive knowledge of how to use them," he started to pace, "Do they think I don't know when they are following me? I mean, come on! Give me some credit here!"

"They followed you today?"

"Yes!"

"Who is 'they'?" Ororo asked Hank quietly. He shrugged his broad shoulders.

"And while we're on the subject, just what was that bull slop in Carolina? What, do they think because neither one of us has went on a killing spree in the past eighteen years or so that we don't know what we're doing? That we couldn't handle a handful of mercs and a couple of kids who still piss themselves at night, and an overgrown, flea-bitten kitty cat! Do they even realize how INSULTING that is?" his voice rose an octave. "At least the last director had the proper respect or a certain kind of fear, but this new guy is just STUPID! Just because we've been behaving ourselves the last few years we're suddenly incapable of being AWESOME! Where did they get this dick-wad? Bob could do better. He really, really could," he stopped pacing and stood breathing heavily in the middle of the kitchen. "Cut off one head and another grows back."

Logan sat quietly, finishing his sandwich as he waited for Wade to calm down. He, himself, had already considered this and worked off the tension, i.e. urge to kill and maim, in the Danger Room for three hours soon after they'd arrived. He'd been wondering how long it would take Wade to get riled up about it.

"So. You say they followed you."

"Yeah. They didn't show up 'til after I dropped the kids off at school. I was pretty close to just whipping that sucker around and lettin' lead fly. Oh, but that would cause a scene. Hate laying low," he pouted.

"Huh. You didn't lead them back here, did you?"

Wade slowly turned his head and glared at him.

"Et tu, Jimmy?"

"Just checkin'," he held his hands up.

"Of course. Criminy. I need chimichangas or a new knife or gun or all three. I'm not picking up the rugrats," he stalked out of the kitchen, and it remained silent for a few minutes after he was gone. During his rant, Ororo and Hank had sat quietly, exchanging looks. Ororo cleared her throat and Logan glanced at her as he took a swig of his drink.

"Do we even want to know what that was about?" Ororo arched a brow at him.

"Huh. Probably not."

"Are the students in danger?" Hank asked.

"They're mutants. No more danger than they'd be in anyway."

"My friend, why do I have the feeling that there is a lot you're not telling us?"

Logan looked at him.

"I can't possibly imagine what you're talkin' about," he stood and walked to the door. "Though if I did, you really wouldn't want to know."

**

* * *

**

The rest of the day was awkward for Rogue. For her first class, Jean, Scott, Forge, Lance, and the Maximoff twins. Forge sat in a desk in the middle and immediately started scribbling away in a notebook. Jean and Scott sat near the front while the Brotherhood sat at the back. Now, Rogue had absolutely nothing against them, despite some of the stories, and always sat at the back. So she didn't give it a second when she took a seat next to Lance. And it surprised her a little when she saw the looks the two shot at her. Jean quickly looked back to the front, but Scott continued to glare.

_Oh._

The looks were either because of the break-up, their past disagreements, or something. She didn't really know. And to be perfectly honest, she didn't care. She liked Lance; he was cool people. Just because they had an issue with him, didn't mean she had to take offense and pick sides. Which is why she smiled and gave the fearless leader the one-fingered salute, getting a laugh from the Brotherhood boys and a small smile from Wanda.

"So you're the Rogue who hustled our boy's lunch money from him?" Pietro smirked.

"And you're the Pietro whose locker Tabby blew up," she responded.

"Hey, she did not hustle me. We were just playin' around," Lance defended.

"Right," Wanda said dryly, "which is why you're out two-hundred bucks."

"Whatever. So you know Pietro. He's a dog, by the way, so ignore most of what he says."

"You're hot," Pietro told her and Wanda smacked him upside his head.

"Um…"

"Oh, and for the love of all that is sane, NEVER give him sugar, caffeine, or energy drinks. Ever," Pietro laughed, Wanda snickered, and Rogue looked amused.

"Okay."

"This is his twin sister, Wanda."

"Older than him by five minutes," she told Rogue smugly.

"And she never lets me forget it," he sighed.

"Now the main thing you need to know about our girl here: do not piss her off. Are you a morning person?"

"Ha, the only reason I'm even coherent now is because of coffee."

"Amen," Wanda raised her hand.

"Good. Morning people irk her. A lot. I'd hate for something to happen to you before I got a chance to win my money back."

"What makes you think you're gonna win?"

"Aw, I was just goin' easy on you."

"Sure," Rogue bit her lip. "Um, about Kitty. I – "

"Forget it," he waved it away. "Us breaking up wasn't your fault. Me and her, it wasn't gonna work anyway."

"Why would it be her fault?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah," Wanda joined in. "Just what happened with you two?"

"Nothing," they both said at the same time.

"Uh-huh," the twins shared a look.

"Seriously, we just talked. Besides, she had a guard dog watching me the whole time."

"Guard dog?" Pietro looked at her.

Rogue rolled her eyes.

"My dad's overprotective."

"Wait. That dude was your dad?" Lance leaned back and looked at her up and down. "You definitely got your looks from your mama then."

At the moment Rogue opened her mouth to speak, the teacher, Mr. Tulsen walked in.

"All right, class. Quiet down. I trust you all had an enjoyable spring break. Now let's see if we can survive until summer, hmm? I understand that we have a new student who has transferred to us over the spring break. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, tell us a little about yourself?"

Rogue inwardly cringed. She hated when authority figures asked questions that were really orders. Just tell her to do it and not make it sound like she actually had options. That's how people develop twitches.

"I'd rather not, thanks."

"Yes, well, that was a rhetorical question. If you would…"

_Of course it was._

"Hi, I'm Rogue Howlett and I just moved here with my dad and uncle."

Mr. Tulsen looked at her expectantly. Rogue looked back.

"What? You said a little."

Most of her classes, she had two of the three X Men members or two of the three Brotherhood members. At lunch, once again, Rogue didn't consider sides when she sat with the Brotherhood. Their table was closer. Pietro introduced her to Todd Tolanski, a.k.a Toad and Fred Dukes the Blob. By that time, all of the X Men knew about Lance breaking up with Kitty and were constantly glancing over at their table. They were, for the most part, ignored. Like Lance said, she didn't have anything to do with their break-up and they'd never done anything to her. She was enjoying herself with Todd and Freddy's clowning, the twin's teasing insults. Lance stayed pretty quiet though.

"Lance said you guys live in a 'special' boarding house."

"Special is the word, yo. No flat-lines allowed," Todd said, using the slang for humans.

"Of course, you have to earn your keep," Wanda said disdainfully.

"Oh, come on, Wands. Mystique's not that bad. What?" Pietro addressed, who was bobbing his leg up and down, his question to Rogue who'd been drinking her soda, but it sprayed out of her mouth when he'd said 'Mystique'. Fortunately for Lance, she'd turned her head.

"Are you okay?" Freddy pulled his face out of his food long enough to ask.

"'M fine. Sorry," she coughed.

_Great. I have Dr. Pepper in my lungs._

"You said Mystique? As in Raven Mystique Darkholme?"

"Yeah," Pietro rocked back and forth in his seat a little, still bobbing his leg.

"Blue skin, red hair, yellow eyes, shape-shifting?"

"Yes. I'm assuming you've met."

"Met. Yeah," she started twisting the hair at the nape of her neck.

Her mother was here. In the same town as her father. This was not good. On one hand, she missed her mom a lot. A lot a lot. But her dad, well, he...let's just say he didn't and leave it at that. She needed to tell him though. He'd be totally pissed if he found out that she was here, and Rogue didn't tell him. Oh man, she did not want to be the one to tell him. It's not like he would do anything to her. But he might go after Raven and her mom wasn't exactly a push-over and had a mild healing factor herself. So that would be bad because some moron would call the police even though it was none of their business, news crews would get involved, and then Weapon X will be the least of their problems. So…she'd make sure they were locked in the Danger Room with Wade and the professor. While she told him over the intercom in the control room. Yeah. Good plan.

"Earth to Rogue," Todd snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"What?"

"You've been gone for five minutes. You cool?"

"I'm fine. Just coming off the coffee buzz."

"Sure. I wouldn't know anything about that," Pietro shrugged.

"Don't ever. The stuff is addictive," Rogue determined she wouldn't think about Logan's reaction to the news anymore. "I don't think I'm gonna make it through the rest of the day."

"Poor thing," his voice was mock sympathy while he rolled his eyes. "Since I'm such a nice guy, why don't I go get you more?"

"No, you don't have – ", there was a blur and then she was talking to empty air. "Where did – Where?"

"Pietro gets jittery if he sits in one spot too long," Wanda explained. "He'll be back in a minute."

"Right."

She hadn't even seen him stand up.

"Hey, you gonna eat those fries?" Fred asked her.

"Eat 'em," she pushed the tray towards him.

"Thanks."

"Here you go," Pietro reappeared in a blur with a Styrofoam cup filled with cold cream coffee topped with whipped cream and caramel and Rogue couldn't not smile. She reverently took the cup with two hands.

"Thank you so much."

"Eh. So what are we talking about?" he stole a fry from Fred's plate.

"Nothing. You weren't gone long enough," Lance told him.

"School sucks," Todd said.

"For the sophomores, I'm sure it does. As a senior, I find that it doesn't suck as much as it used to."

"Oh, yeah, rub salt in the wound."

"If we're lucky, maybe you'll shrivel up and die," Wanda told him casually, her elbow on the table with her head propped in her hand.

"Baby, that hurts right here," he put a hand over his heart.

"It's gonna hurt everywhere if you call me 'baby' again."

"Sure thing, Honey Lips," he smiled at her.

Wanda scowled at him and a blue glow formed around her hand.

"Wands, let's just calm down. Remember what Aggie said," Pietro tried to soothe his sister and turned to Todd. "Do you want me to run you out to the middle of the ocean? Because that's what it sounds like you're asking for."

"Like I won't take you down with me."

"As if you could, Slow-Toad."

"Whatever, Speedbump."

"Don't tell me what to do," Wanda told Pietro.

"Yeah," Todd said.

"Shut up," they both yelled at him.

Rogue just sat quietly as she sipped her chilled coffee and watched the trio bickering with Lance.

"_This_ is my family," he said with disbelief

Rogue scoffed.

"Bet my family is crazier than your family."

"You know, somethin' tells me you'd win that bet by a mile."

* * *

A/N: Is it just me or are my chapters really short? What the flip would Logan do with his free-time? I mean seriously? What? TELL ME! Apparently, Forge's name…is Forge. That simply will not do. Rogue is the only one allowed to go by her code-name at all times. So what are we naming him? Ooh, Usher Kennington! (JK, don't kill me) He can be Joseph Something and be the name replacement, and therefore full replacement, of that Magneto clone guy or whatever he is. It's something complicated, I don't know or care. He definitely will not be making an appearance EVER. I'd sooner do an OC character. gag

**Keep voting! The poll is still open!** Though the majority of you REALLY want to see some poor boy be traumatized for the rest of his non-existent life. Mean streak. Personally, I wanna see them shopping, but hey, who cares what I want. I'm just the author.

Go read **Deadpool's Blog**. It is good. I almost feel ashamed that I'm not doing him justice and downgrading him so much. But the character as he is normally doesn't have a family so he would be, um, wilder. But don't worry. He's gonna get his moments. And for something that's just straight funny: Youtube: **Rorschach and Deadpool (Marvel/DC/Buddy Cop Parody)** and **"The Man Your Man Should Never Be Like…EVER"**

Fun Fact: I did this author's note before I actually wrote this chapter. =)

Who wants me to parodize _The Awful Truth_ and _Diary of a Mad Black Woman _changed to _Diary of a Mad Mutant Woman__?_ Who even knows what those movies are? Anyone?

I don't think I did a very good job with Toad and Blob. Almost there, queenith2.


	19. Best Laid Plans

Me: Because I can, I would like to ask Wade to do this for me. Wade?

Wade: Yes?

Me: Thank the nice anonymous reviewers.

Wade: Why should I?

Me: Whadd'ya mean 'why'?

Wade: What most people mean.

Me: Because I love you. o.o

Wade: That only works with Rogue. What else you got?

Me: Why are you bein' a jerk right now?

Wade: Because that's how you're writing me.

Me: Stop breakin' the fourth wall

Wade: Yeah, and why don't you tell Kurt to stop being blue, and that whole JOTT romance to stop being complicated and annoying.

Me: …

Wade: Exactly. It's not possible. Well, unless you dyed his fur and killed one of them. Oh, wait.

Me: Do you want a girlfriend or not?  
Wade: Really? Wait…0.o It's not Typhoid Mary is it?

Me: I don't know who that is.

Wade: Crazy lady who's obsessed with me. Who is it then?

Me: (lean over and whisper in his ear)

Wade: GASP Really?(voice squeaks) She's pretty hot. Gimme that. (snatches cards from Me) SCOFF That's the best you could come up with.

Me: Do you want her or not?  
Wade: Do you realize you're pimping her out?

Me: If I didn't love you so much, I'd hate you

Wade: But you do, so you can't so oh, well. All right,**xXWingedWereFoxXx,** she had no idea that is what O.K. stood for. Ha, I did. You're one of her favorite reviewers and the Merc with a Mouth wishes you good luck with your band. **Noshin**, she actually meant to put Diary of a Mad Black Woman, but she's a ditz sometimes so forgive her. Is that the movie where the guy throws out his wife and she beats him upside the head? Ooh, can I be the gangster who shoots him?

Me: You can't use a real gun.

Wade: Well forget that then. **Ele,** she knew that thing had an actual name for it. What, spit take? (turns to Me)No, you didn't. And last but not least, a special, special thank you to **sharky237**! Hey, she/he is not anonymous. They have a profile

Me: So. Now if you would, get ready for this one.

Wade: Yeah, yeah. I'm going. (exit stage left)

Me (inside voice): The reason he is so calm is because I had Rogue sedate him. With elephant darts.

Wade(from off-stage): And she's not creative enough to keep it short.

Me:(looks up) This really got out of hand. SHRUG But I sure ain't deletin' any of it.

**

* * *

**

Rogue had very cleverly avoided being talked to by Scott whom Kurt, sweet kid, had warned her felt it was his duty as…whatever he thought he was to talk to her about hanging with the Brotherhood. When she saw him in the halls, she went the other way. If they were in the same class, she stayed on the other side of the class and all but bolted for the door. After school, the Brotherhood boys were all too agreeing to being a diversion if Scott approached her. It wasn't that she didn't like confrontation. Sometimes she purposely got into fights just for kicks. But she didn't need one today. You see, she had to tell her temperamental father that his estranged wife who hadn't bothered to tell him that she was pregnant with his child was living in the same town, not even an hour's drive away. She'd been kicking the idea around of whether or not to go see her now by herself. But that would result in having to deal with an ornery Wolverine. So she'd talk to him first.

Rogue rode out in front of the line of vehicles with Scott, Jean, and Betsy in the X Van respectively. On the return trip to the mansion, Tabby had gotten a ride with Jean and Rogue had Kitty with her. They stopped at a light and a red and white Ninja JXR weaved around the stationary cars and stopped next to Rogue. The driver nodded at looked at her and she looked back. He revved the motor in a challenge. She responded. Kitty noticed.

"What are you doing?" she asked apprehensively.

The lights for the other lanes flicked to yellow.

"You're gonna want to hold on more than that."

"Why?"

They turned red.

"Because you'll go flyin' off and get run over."

The lights in front of them turned green. As one, Rogue and Wade roared away leaving twin lines of black on the ground. From where they were, if one had driven the speed limit it would take twenty minutes to reach the mansion. Wade and Rogue got there in seventy-two minutes. Rogue had a slight lead on Wade and didn't slow down as she approached the gate. In fact, she sped up.

"Phase us through," she yelled to Kitty and drove through the closed gate. Wade, however, didn't have a neat-o, phasing mutant riding with him so he had to slow a bit, press a button on his bike and the gate slid open. It was barely open when Wade flew through. Just to be flashy, he popped a wheelie, rode that way a few yards, turned it around, and stopped. Rogue had circled around the fountain and swerved to a stop parallel to him. He lifted the visor of his black helmet.

Kitty pulled back from Rogue, yanked her helmet off, and rounded on her.

"You almost got us hit by a Mack truck!"

Rogue pulled her helmet off completely.

"But I didn't."

Wade brought the kick stand down and leaned forward on the bike, watching the two with interest.

"Because I phased us through. Are you crazy? That was, like, totally reckless and insane! You didn't know that I could have gotten us through in time, and you could have killed us!" Kitty stood and glared at her.

"You're right. It was fun though, wasn't it?" Rogue smirked at her.

"Well…" she deflated a little, "Maybe a little."

"Exactly. And besides, I knew you could get us through that toll booth. Plus, I know what I'm doin'."

"Fine. Whatever. Just don't go so crazy next time. Thanks for the ride. I'm going to go work on this mountain of homework."

"See ya later."

Once Kitty was inside, Wade said to Rogue,

"'Next time'. We may have a convert in this one."

Rogue laughed.

"Wanna go again? Can we, huh?"

"Maybe later. I need to talk to you about something."

"What's up, Roguey? Wait. Is this about boys?"

"No, it is not about boys," she sighed and pulled at the hair at the nape of her neck.

"Oh, crap. You're playing with your hair. I feel slightly worried. I don't like worry, Rogue. Stop it. Stop it now!"

Rogue forced her hand down and looked at Wade.

"We need somewhere more private. Follow me," she put her helmet back on and drove around the back of the mansion, headed to a path that went into the woods around the mansion. The path led to a gazebo that looked out over the ocean.

She got off of her bike, went up the three steps, and sat down cross-legged in the center on the floor even though there was a perfectly good bench that went around the inside of the gazebo. Wade sat down next to her, spread his legs out in front of him, and leaned back on his arms.

"Is this about the powder bombs? Because if it is, I haven't set them off yet. But they don't do much damage anyway so I – "

"I have no idea what you're talkin' about."

"Oh. Nothing then. Forget it. You were going to say stuff?"

"Yeah…Mom's here."

Wade's eyes widened.

"Whose mom? Your mom?"

"Yeah."

"Shite! Amsterdam it all to Sheol! Oh, oh, bad. Crap. Does Jimmy know?"

"No. I mean, he probably doesn't. I didn't know until today. You know the Brotherhood? Apparently, she's in charge of them. They're the ones who told me."

"Then it's safe to say he doesn't know. And he never will."

"No, Wade, we have to tell him."

"Why? Because you'll feel bad if, notice I say 'if', he finds out from someone else? You're such a daddy's girl, _Rogue._ I see no reason to tell him, though, admittedly, I just don't plain see reason. Not the point though."

"Well, what if he finds out on his own?"

"Off the top of my head, he'll explode on us, go over there, get in a fight, there will be police and press, and Weapon X might show up, then they'll have to stop fighting each other long enough to take care of everyone else then get back at it. And what's this 'we' of which you speak? When you say 'we', you mean 'me'. He's not going to be stabbing this messenger. No, ma'am."

"Whatever. You just think you know me. That is so not what I meant," that is so totally what she meant.

"I know I know you, little liar. How about I stand behind you very close to an exit when _you_ tell him since you're so insistent he know."

"Fine. What do you think he'll do?"

"Swear. He's definitely going to swear."

"You don't think he'll go over there, do you?"

"I think you should stop stressing over this before you give yourself an ulcer or something."

Rogue sighed and moved her hair behind her ear. Fine. Don't stress. She could do that. Not. Her parents were going to kill each other. Or at least try.

"You know what you need?"

"Counseling?"

"That'd be pretty fun. But no, not exactly. I was thinking therapy."

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"They are similar, in a way. Counseling is where they sit you down and ask you questions and make you talk and tell you what's wrong with you. It's actually kind of fun. But you don't like talking so you're going to do therapy. That's when you work out your 'problem' in a active, physical, possibly violent manner."

"Why do you know that?"

"Nevermind that," he stood up and held a hand out to Rogue. "When were you going to tell him?"

She took his hand and he pulled her up.

"Tonight, I guess."

"That means there's no time for that method. So we'll just shoot stuff. Get your rifle, a six pack of orange soda, a lawn chair and meet me on the roof," he walked down the steps to his bike and got on.

"I am not haulin' a lawn chair up to the roof."

"If you can beat me back, I'll tell Jimmy."

Rogue jumped off of the gazebo, mounted her bike, switched it on, and turned it around.

"On your mark," Wade slid on his helmet.

"Get set."

"GO!"

Their bikes kicked up dirt and gravel. When the dust settled, they were well out of sight of the gazebo.

"ROGUE! Don't kick me!"

* * *

**At the Brotherhood House** (Whose else's house would they be?)

"Today was a good day," Lance walked into the living room and flopped into his chair. The boys followed him in and settled around the room. Wanda went to her room.

"Seriously? Which part?" Todd hopped on the back of the couch. "The part when you broke up with Kitty?"

"Or getting glared at more than usual?" Pietro was zooming around the room looking for the remote for the TV.

"Pissing off Summers was pretty good," Fred said from his spot on the couch.

"Yeah," they all agreed, looking at each other.

"And his little brother, too!" Todd snickered.

Lance gave him a look.

"Did you just reference the _Wizard of Oz_?"

"So what if I did?"

"Do we have that movie?"

Pietro pulled it from behind the TV along with several other movies, a stuffed bear, a pizza slice, half of the remote, and twenty dollars which he quickly slipped into his pocket.

"What – How? Forget it," he threw the remote back.

"Can we watch it?" Fred asked.

"Remote's broken anyway," Pietro grumbled, put the dvd in, and zoomed out to get junk food and soda and situated himself in the bean bag chair.

"Yo, what was up with Summers anyway?"

"Who knows," Freddy said.

"I'll tell you what his problem is," Lance smiled. "The log."

The boys all laughed at that.

"I can't imagine why he didn't think Log-Butt was funny," Pietro wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Rogue thought it was funny," Fred pointed out.

"I like Howlett. She's cool."

"What?"

Cue record scratch.

All heads turned to the doorway where an attractive blue-skinned woman with deep red hair and yellow eyes glared back at them.

"M – Mystique. You're back. We're so glad. Aren't we glad, guys?" Lance stuttered.

"So glad," the boys chorused.

"You said Howlett. Tell me where you saw him. Now," she put a fist on her hip.

"Uh, Howlett's a girl," Fred said.

"A girl. What does she look like?" she addressed Pietro.

"She's two inches shorter than Lance, reddish hair with a white stripe that she parts through the middle, wears goth stuff, has a bike –"

"Where does she live?"

"With her dad and uncle at the Institute."

"Her uncle?"

"We don't know who he is. Or her dad."

"Interesting," an evil smile spread across Mystique's features. She turned and walked up the stairs to her room, her hand gliding along the banister. The boys didn't move until they heard her door shut.

"What was that about?" Lance blurted out.

"I can't believe she didn't notice anything about the banister," Todd muttered.

"What does she care about Rogue for?" Fred scratched his head.

"I think it had more to do with Rogue's dad," Pietro sat back in his chair. "Maybe both of them."

"Forget about it. We'll find out sooner or later. Play the movie," Lance said.

"You expect me to move?" Pietro arched a brow at him.

"Quit bein' such a lazy –" he cut himself off when Todd's tongue shot across the room and hit the play button on the dvd player. "That works, too. It's really gross, Todd, don't do it again. But it works."

They all settled back and watched the movie. Wanda came in just when the house crushed the witch and kicked her brother off of the beanbag chair. As they watched Dorothy and Toto skip down the yellow brick road, a raven flew from out of one of the upstairs windows.

**

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**

A/N: Well, that first part was fun. But apparently, I can't control myself. **VOTE** When I parodize those movies, Wade is so going to be my co-director.

I miss the Kenan&Kel show. Who loves orange soda?

I have a crush on the band known as Switchfoot. Not a person, but the band, their sound. It's awesome. **VOTE**

I totally forgot that I had Wade start a prank by himself. Only reason I know now is 'cause I needed to see what color his bike was. Should I start another story? **VOTE** I have a lot of ideas and was just wondering what y'all thought.

I'm sure this isn't hard for y'all to believe this of me, but I only have a hazy idea why Logan and Raven split. I don't know who to blame or the details. I don't know who left who or what. Um, there was a fight.

**VOTE**

I have started the chapter to introduce Gambit. So, and I mean this in the nicest, most adoring way with absolutely no offense behind it, but please SHUT UP! About him, that is. Continue to review. **VOTE**

And, queenie? I'm drawing this out on purpose. Just for you. =D


	20. Stalling for Time

A/N: So sorry that it wasn't clear to some people, but it took them seventy-two minutes to get to the mansion because they didn't go directly home. They raced around town doing reckless stunts and just avoiding getting stopped by the police. You know, just playin' around.

**JediMutant93:** I can't tell you who his girlfriend is going to be. It's a surprise but here's a hint: she was in Wolverine and the X Men(which is the only reason I know of her existence). Yes, I'm going to update 'Scenes'. How Rogue meets Wade will happen in the Billionaires and Dolls story arc.

**Anonomys: **That's a good idea for him. I really like it. But with Logan and Raven, I see him in the background egging them both on with a bowl of popcorn. 'Aw, come on, Jimmy! Show that woman who's boss!'

**Anna:** I hope I don't disappoint with that.

**anonymous: **No, he's staying the age he is. I want him to be older than her by a few years. Not really a reason for it, I just do. Besides, _she_ kissed _him_.

**xXWingedWereFoxXx:** You can? Awesome! Do you know 'A Girl Named Tennessee'? Ooh, 'Faust, Midas, and Myself'! 'Twenty-four' and 'American Dream'! I'll stop that now. Are you going to Youtube performances? Wow, my stories. I might. Just have to pick one. At . a. time. Down with the Crowd! I hate the entire Ford brand. Rants are good for the soul. Or at least sanity. And so fun. It's another form of therapy. 8)

Shoutout to sharky237, the one who knows who loves orange soda!

**

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**

Rogue looked through the stainless steel fridge in the kitchen for Wade's stupid orange soda, not at all happy with the fact that he'd beaten her back to the mansion so she still had to tell her dad about her mom. She stood back and shut the door with more force than necessary, not finding it in there. She hadn't found any the first time she looked either. Or the pantry, in the cabinets, or where Wade had 'stashed' his alcohol. The top of the fridge wasn't much of a hiding place, nor was it meant to be. He'd labeled them with a sticker of his mask and a knife. They weren't that stupid.

BAMF

Rogue turned and saw Kurt atop the counter behind her. He smiled and waved.

"Vhat's up?"

"Do you people have orange soda?"she blurted out exasperated.

Kurt tilted his head and considered.

"Orange soda," he looked off into space, "Vhere did I put it?" He hopped off of the counter, went to pantry, pulled out a box a Wheatie Wheat Flakes and pulled out a bottle of soda.

"Ta-da!"

She couldn't help but smile a little.

"I don't suppose you have five more of those?"

"Actually," he replaced the box in the pantry, "I do. Zhere in zhe library though," he held out his hand to her. She took his hand and then

BAMF

they disappeared in a cloud of noxious smoke.

**

* * *

**

Bobby sauntered away from the girl's dorms, hands in pockets, whistling a tune. He was quite proud of his most recent prank. Yes, it was old, but it was a classic. You can't beat the classics.

"Aaaaaauuugh!" came a scream behind him.

He laughed at the outraged screams behind him. Then frowned. They were finding them too soon. He was too close to the vicinity and could easily be linked to the deed. Which wouldn't be good since he'd hit most of the female population. So he ran. But didn't get very far before he was tackled _through_ a wall by Kitty. He tried to get up but found that she'd phased him up to his shins through the floor of, he took a quick look around, Amara and Tabby's room who were present and not happy. Bobby quickly schooled his features into what he thought would have been an awesome innocent expression if he weren't guilty, nervous, and trapped.

Tabby went to the door and called out,

"Hey, Jubes! We got him in here."

Said girl came stalking in, holding a very frozen bra.

"What's going on?" he asked innocently. He'd determined to do everything innocently. Hmm. How does one breathe innocently?

"Don't play dumb, Drake," Jubilee glared down at him, which he thought was weird since she was usually glaring up, but then remembered his legs.

"He's probably, like, not playing. Apparently he is that dumb."

"What do you mean?"

Amara picked up a frozen, blue bra from her bed and hit him over the head with it.

"This is what we mean!"

"Ow! That hurts. And what makes you think I did it?"

The four girls looked at each other then at him then back at each other.

"Is he serious?" Tabby was a little incredulous that he would deny it this much.

Bobby thought this just might be his chance.

"I am. I mean, you girls don't have any proof that it was me."

Kitty and Jubilee rolled her eyes.

"You're so right, _Ice_man. What were we thinking?" her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Look," he held up his hands, "I'm just sayin' you don't have any proof."

Tabby smirked at him.

"Who needs proof?"

Jubilee immediately caught on her to her meaning.

"We just need a confession," sparks formed in her hands, a smile spread across her face, and Bobby gulped.

This might have been bad idea.

They advanced as one and just when he thought he was dead,

BOOM

The door flung open and hit the wall. The girls turned around and saw a sheepish looking Wade standing in the hall.

"What?" Tabby crossed her arms, disappointed with the interruption of the vengeance of the bras.

"Oopsy. Wasn't going for all that with the door. Have any of you seen the Icemaker, why is he in the ground?" Wade looked at Bobby, the girls, Bobby, the bra still in Amara's hand, opened his mouth then shut it. "No. I shouldn't say that. I go too far sometimes, I'll be the first to admit it. That was just inappropriate."

"Uh, you were looking for me?" Bobby looked at him with a desperate gaze and Wade snapped out of his monologue.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," he shook his head. "So, if the ghosty girl could do her thing," he vaguely waved a hand around.

Kitty sighed and grudgingly pulled Bobby out of the floor, tossing him in front of Wade. Bobby scrambled to his feet, ran past Wade, and would have kept going except Wade caught him by the shoulder. He turned to look at him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from them?"

"Heck no, kid. I got a job for you," he pulled him along with a firm grip on his shoulder.  
"How much does it pay?"

"Ha, you're funny. Pay, he says."

Bobby sighed. At least he was away from the girls.

"We're going to get you, Drake!" Tabby hollered after him.

"I'll bring him back later," Wade called back.

"WHAT?"

**

* * *

**

Kurt was flat on the floor of the second story in the library, Rogue next to him with a flashlight, as he reached under a shelf.

"Why would you put it that far back?" Rogue peered under the shelf.

"I didn't. It must have rolled."

"Sure it did, paranoid."

"Almost…got it!"

He pulled his arm out and held up his prize triumphantly. Then he looked at it and frowned.

"Ew. Diet."

"Gross. What were you thinking?" she sat up and clicked off the flashlight.

"It must have been during zhe Desperate Times," he said solemnly.

"What –"  
"Please don't ask."

"O-kay," she stood up "I think we have enough anyway," she took the bottle out of his hand and dropped it in the cooler that was filled with various sodas, a few candy bars, Wade's precious orange soda included.

"Alright," Kurt popped up. "Are we having a party?"

"Naw, Wade wants 'em. Hey, can you 'port me to my room? I need to get somethin' before I meet him on the roof."

"No sweat."

BAMF

He had one hand on the cooler, and Rogue gave him her hand.

BAMF

Rogue stepped away from him, dropped to her knees, and pulled a long black case from under her bed.

"Vhy are ve going to zhe roof?"

She shrugged.

"Wade said get this stuff and meet him up there. So I am," she hefted the case onto her bed. Looking around her room, she went to her dresser and got her black-framed Costas with dark grey lenses and put them on top of her head.

"All right. 'Port us up, Kurty," one hand on his shoulder, the other on the case.

BAMF

And then they were on the roof. Wade was reclining on one of the pool chairs and eating a chimichanga, with a greasy bag on the ground near him. Bobby was there too, though he looked confused and afraid, like he didn't want to be there, but couldn't really leave.

Neither Rogue or Kurt knew what was up with him, but with a glance at each other, they decided it was best not to ask.

"You're here. Finally! Toss me orange soda," he held up a hand and caught it, handed it to Bobby, "Chill it," he ordered.

"You got your own chair, I see," Rogue commented.

"Yeah, I thought about it."

"Did it hurt?" she interrupted.

He ignored her, pulling another chimichanga out of the bag.

"No way you were gonna get me a chair."

"So glad you figured that out."

"So I had Bobby ice it up."

Kurt and Rogue looked over the edge of the roof and could see an ice pillar.

Bobby held the can moment, frost creeped around the can, and he gave it back to Wade.

"Here."

"I love teaching," he took a long swig. "Start setting it up, Roguey."

Rogue set down her case, knelt in front of it, opened, and pulled out her rifle.

"What the heck," Bobby said.

Kurt stared at it, bug-eyed.

"Vhy do you have zhat?"

She shrugged.

"Target practice," she glanced at the two boys and almost smirked.

"You actually know how to use that?"

"Uh, yeah," she loaded the gun.

"Vait, vhat are you going to shoot?"

She stood up, gun on her shoulder.

"Wade?" she asked

"To fully alleviate stress, it'd be better if we had better targets. As it is though, we'll improvise," he turned to Bobby. "Iceman."

His eyes widened comically, and he backed up with his hands raised.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Kurt was staring at them, jaw dropped.

Rogue and Wade shared a look.

"Of course, kid. Chill out," he snickered at his own joke. "What you're gonna do is just fire ice disks in the air, and Roguey will shoot those. Unless you're volunteering."

"No! I mean, no problem," at the moment, he was thinking he would have been safer with the vengeful girls.

"Not a bad idea, Wade," Rogue told him and pulled her shades down.

"And on such short notice, too."

"Don't you need a permit for zhat?"

Rogue shrugged. The boys looked at Wade. He paused mid-bite. Noticed them looking at him and said,

"Psh. Noooo. Of course you don't. 'Cause otherwise, you know, that'd be illegal. Which is wrong…and stuff."

"Uh-huh," said Kurt.

"Sure," said Bobby.

"Just set it up already," he grumbled. "Little jerk people."

Rogue put the gun to her shoulder, chambered a round, held it down, and looked East toward the ocean, away from the general school population.

"Pull," she said.

Bobby fired a disk of ice into the air. Four seconds later, it was blasted to pieces and rained down on the ground below. Rogue smiled in satisfaction.

"Do it again!" Kurt sat down cross-legged, tail whipping around behind him.

"What he said!" Wade bit into another chimichanga that he'd pulled out of his freaking magic bag he seemed to have.

"Ready?" she asked Bobby.

"Oh, yeah! I could get into this. Can you hit more than one at a time?"

She chambered another round.

"Let's find out."

* * *

**A/N2: **As I understand Comic verse, Kurt is the son of Mystique and some Red demon-like, maybe demon named Azazel who he resembles. In the cartoon, his father wasn't revealed and his appearance is because Magneto messed with his DNA. So he has a father in this story who is alive, at the moment. But it is not Azazel and no, it is not Logan. But he might die later in the story, I don't know yet. Don't ask me who he is, I won't tell, but if you guess right, I'll let you know.

-giggle- I have only the vaguest, foggy clue as to how the 'Reunion' is gonna go down. –giggle- this is so fun. I have no idea what I'm doing! PLOT! –full on laughter- And this chapter? I'm stalling for time. Hehehehe…

I seriously need to slow my roll. I have this story, 'Scenes', started 'DMMW', got a little drabble series in the Avatar-verse, have about three different stories started on my USB drive, and probably forgot something. But I don't have a lot of restraint with this so, oh well. Y'all benefit in the end anyway. Ever work on two stories at the same time? And I mean, you have this one up and the other one up on another page, type here, type over there.

It looks like 'Rogue's first date' will be up first so…who has ideas for teenaged boy torture by scary fathers and paranoid, deranged uncles? Or not torture but you know, we're not throwin' the boy in the basement (Probably not) but he sure as all-get-out ain't gonna be comfortable.


	21. These Are our Role Models

**JediMutant93:** Correct the first time! Who have you been talking to? Do you have my brain bugged or something? I'ma need you to remove it. Thank you for the review.

To everyone one else, Thank you. I can't believe I have over two-hundred reviews. That is too cool.

**

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**

After target practice, Kurt had 'ported her to her room. They'd talked a while before he 'ported away to make himself a pre-dinner snack. Apparently, his teleportation used a lot of energy. She'd declined his offer to come with and decided to fret over, or rather plan how she'd tell her father the wonderful news. In need of sarcasm font. She lay sprawled on her bed, facedown as Jon Foreman sang about yesterdays gone.

She mentally slummed through several possible scenarios and even asked a few of the psyches their opinion. None of them were any good and they'd laughed hysterically.

_Maybe I can tell him in a note._ _Or-_

MEOW

Rogue pushed herself up and looked around her room. Her window was open and there was a black cat lying on her desk. She stared at it, and it returned her gaze with cool yellow eyes. She flipped over and sat up.

_No way._

"Mama?"

The cat got bigger, changed form, straightened and revealed itself to be a blue woman with yellow eyes, a warm smile playing on her lips. She stood up from the chair..

"Hello, baby girl."

Rogue broke into a grin and rushed her mother, taking her in a hug.

"I missed you so much! How long have you been here? Why didn't you come visit? Why'd you stop writing?" Rogue stopped rambling and pulled back.

"You didn't talk to Daddy, did you?"

Raven smiled at her daughter, amused.

"I missed you too, Anna. I've been in your room for a few minutes. That man moved you too much. The same reason I stopped writing," a slight frown creased her brow. "And no, I haven't talked to him."

"I can't believe you're here," she hugged her mother again. "I was just thinkin' 'bout goin' to see you and I didn't even know you were here 'til today. I just…"

She actually thought that she might cry.

"It's alright, Anna. I know."

Rogue backed away to compose herself. She put her hands to her eyes and tilted her head back taking a deep breath. Once she had control over herself, she plopped back down on the bed and patted a spot next to her.

"Talk to me."

BAMF

Kurt appeared in a puff of smoke holding Rogue's shades in his hand.

"Hey, Rogue, you left your…"

"Mom?" Kurt blurted.

"Mom?" Rogue repeated. "What do you mean 'Mom'?"

"Hello, Kurt," said Raven.

"I mean she's my mother," he clarified.

"She can't be your mom. She's my mom and I'm pretty sure Daddy would have told me if he met up with Mama again."

"Vait, who is your dad?"

"Duh, Logan. What, you think we have the same last name by accident or somethin'?"

Kurt looked at Raven.

"So Logan is my father?"

"Umm…" she hesitated.

Rogue's eyes got wide.

"You cheated on Daddy?" she yelled.

"We were separated!" Raven defended.

"Y'all were still married though! It doesn't matter."

"You were married?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, I was."

"And you still are," all eyes turned to Wade who was coming through Rogue's balcony door. "You should really lock that thing," he slurped some orange soda.

"Wait," Rogue held up her hands. "You two are still married? You haven't seen each other for over eighteen years!"

"She doesn't believe in divorce," Wade said as he sat in Rogue's chair.

"I can speak for myself Wade," Raven told him.

"I'm fine, Ravey. It's so nice to see you again too."

"I can't believe this," Rogue stood up and started pacing.

"I am so confused," Kurt said.

"Let me simplify for you, kid," Wade leaned back. "Way back in the day, Ravey and Jimmy got hitched but then realized they couldn't stand each other. When they split, she didn't tell Jimmy she had one in the oven, and now we have her," he waved to Rogue who was now muttering to herself. "And where you come in, well, you're the bastard-child."

While Kurt took a minute to take all this in, Raven turned to Wade.

"Don't you know when to shut up? None of this concerns you."

"If it concerns Roguey, it concerns me. What kind of uncle would I be otherwise? One like Snaggletooth is what kind."

"So Rogue is my sister zhen?"

Rogue faltered and would have tripped except Wade caught her by the arm.

"Walk much, Sunshine?" he smiled at her.

"This isn't how I expected this to go," she told him.

"Yeah. For one thing, Jimmy was supposed to be here."

Logan walked in, saw Raven, and snarled, "Explain this."

Rogue smacked Wade on the head.

"Why would you even say that?"

Raven placed her hands on her hips and glared at Logan.

"So now I'm a 'this'. I use to be 'wife'," she said him haughtily.

"Unfortunately, you still are."

"I'm here to see my daughter. Is that a crime now?"

"You don't want to talk about crime, darlin'," amazing how a man can take a word and make it sound like a curse.

"Oh, please! It's not like you're as pure as the driven snow yourself."

Rogue saw him tense, and Kurt wisely back out of the direct line of fire. Wade stared at all of them with wide-eyed amusement. Raven eye's narrowed to slits.

"This was so not supposed to go down in my room," Rogue pushed a hand through her hair.

"Why is there never popcorn when you really need it?" Wade wondered aloud and chugged the rest of his soda.

Rogue took a cautious step towards her father.

"Let's ever' body just calm down before things get outta hand," she said, trying to defuse the situation.

How long have you known she was here?" Logan asked.

"Uh, here as in my room or the state or - ?"

"Damn it, Rogue!"

"Don't use cursing words around Roguey," Wade scolded him.

"Don't tell me how to talk to my daughter."

"She's more my daughter than she is yours," Raven said.

"What, because you kept her six years then had Irene give her to me? You could have at least done that face-to-face."

"I think carrying her around for nine months and seventeen hours of labor make her more mine than yours! And Irene volunteered so I saw no reason to have to force myself to deal with the great ordeal of seeing your face again."

"You do realize most of the cuss words I learned were from you, right?" Rogue asked Wade, temporarily distracted.

Logan and Raven continued to yell back and forth getting closer to each other until they were screaming in each other's faces, totally oblivious to everything. They didn't even notice when the door to Rogue's room opened and Kitty, Tabby, Danielle, Amara, and Jubilee tumbled onto the floor.

Kitty smiled up at a scowling Rogue, "Um, hi."

"I told you to stop leaning on the door," Amara said.

"It's not my fault," Tabby defended. "I had Danni on my back."

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Danni asked.

"This was so not my idea," Jubilee defended.

"Wade! Do somethin'," she ordered, ignoring the intruders and growing more and more worried about an imminent blood bath.

"Right," he stood up from the chair and approached the couple. "My brother from another mother and father," he said to Logan and turned to Raven, "Dear sister-in-law-only, thank God. This just simply will not do. Not at all. In the words of a wise man, can't we all just get along?"

Raven glared at him a moment before she punched him on the face. He turned his head to absorb the blow and worked his jaw with his hand. Raven and Logan resumed their yelling.

"Huh. I think you cracked it," he shrugged. "Well, since you two are more for make war not peace, could you break for, like, five minutes while I run down the kitchen for snacks?"

"Wade!" Rogue yelled.

"What?"

"You're supposed to be stoppin' them from fightin', not tryin' to score the best seat!"

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm awesome, yes, but there is no earthly force on earth that can keep these two from going at it like rabid monkeys."

"UGH! Y'know what? Go ahead! I don't even care! I was thinkin' 'bout paintin' it a nice blood red anyway. While I'm gone, I'll just go find a new set of parents who don't try to kill each other when they don't agree on crap!" Rogue stormed out of the room and the girls just managed to get out of her way and slammed the door behind her.

"An exit like that takes talent," Tabby commented.

"Hn. She got it from her mother," Logan growled.

"I consider it a compliment," Raven said.

Rogue stalked through the halls to the stairs. Sam saw her passing in the hall.

"Hey, Rogue," he called, only in innocent greeting.

Rogue stopped down and rounded on him.

"What?" she barked, her face a scowl.

Sam backed up, hands in the air.

"Uh, just 'hi'."

She stared at him a moment. Then snorted and walked off. Sam let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, thinking he was lucky to still be in one piece.

Rogue was trying to calm down. She really was. But those people were just… Ugh! It wasn't right. Some internal part of her that was still just a child knew that Mama and Daddy weren't supposed to do that. When they had differences, they were supposed to sit down and talk about it. You know, like adult, civilized people. But no. No, not her parents. And they were gonna trash her room in the process! She just got it how she like it and they were going to stain it with blood. Blood never comes out. Ever.

She was passing the upstairs door to the library when Scott called her. She spun on her heel and put her hands on her hips, leaning on her left leg.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"'Bout me sittin' wi' the Brotherhood?" her accent thickened with her ire.

"About hanging out with them in general. They're a bad crowd."

That statement had Rogue either wanting to punch this prick in the nose and leave him with a scathing remark or laugh in his face. Since she just gave that grand speech and internal monologue, she went with the non-violent approach. She chuckled.

"Ya right. I'll keep it in mind," she sent him a poison-sweet smile and continued on her way, no less angry at her parents. And the little eavesdroppers too.

In short order she made it to the base of the stairs and headed for the door.

"Rogue."

She turned and saw Emma, wearing a tight, white, revealing ensemble.

"Dinner is almost ready, you know," she said this while examining her nails.

Rogue felt an immediate flicker of irritation and her anger flared at the sight of that woman. The outfit was so tight and revealing, she might as well be naked. She herself was all for individuality, but come on! With this chick, Victoria's Secret wasn't so secret. She hoped Miss Emma wouldn't have to be bending over anytime soon.

"I'm goin' out," she bit out.

"Really?" she glanced at Rogue for the first, giving her the up-down look. "In that?"

"What's wrong wi' my clothes?" she asked slowly. She wore a grey long sleeve shirt with a black vest that had a graphic design of a white skull, black, ripped jeans, and combat boots that housed a blade each.

"Hm. Yes. Where did you get them?" Emma asked instead.

"Why?"

"Well, honestly? I'd like to burn down the store that sold such ugly clothes," she replied with a smile, revealing too white teeth.

Rogue felt the urge to knock them out. Normally, she wouldn't act on it. But today…well, today was Monday. So far, her Monday sucked raw beans and eggs through a straw. Do you realize how hard that sucks? Very. Why not spread a little of her fortune with someone who was _begging_ for it? Even her psyches agreed with her!

With a smile that would be compared with baring her teeth, Rogue quickly stepped to Emma and punched her in the face. Emma fell to the ground, either from the blow or shock, clutching her cheek.

"I got 'em from the same place you got your boobs, honey."

Rogue turned on her heel and sauntered to the door.

Emma called her the short version of a female dog.

Rogue tossed her a smile as she opened the door.

"I come by it honest," and slammed the door behind her.

She walked. She walked away from the mansion to and out the gate. Following the road, she eventually made it to the outskirts of Bayville and kept walking. She didn't see what she was looking for in the storefronts and businesses she passed. Right now, what she wanted, and yeah, she knew it was contradictory, but she needed a fight.

Finally, she got away from the respectable and stepped into the slums and found an appropriate looking establishment. The Rogue walked into a bar.

* * *

A/N: And this chapter stops here. My mama says go to bed, my sister says go to bed. So guess what I'm gonna do.

There, **queenie**, there's your FREAKING blue lady! Now get off my back. ;) jk.

If you like Deadpool, or straight love the psycho, check out **Captain Deadpool**'s hilarious stories that truly capture the crazy that is Deadpool. Then Deadpool breaks out beats the crap out of you for capturing him in the first place.

I'm thinkin' confrontation ain't really my 'thang'. That really sucked.

Dudes, writing that last chapter for 'Scenes', so fun. The first part before the line break I had up for forever. I think it came out very nicely and it has got to be my favorite one so far.

Mystique is probably going to seem OC from her Evo version and the comics. However, Rogue is in fact her birth daughter and she didn't take advantage of her. She gave her up to avoid her certain death because we all know how reliable seers are. I really need a sarcasm font. The point is, she actually loves her children. But really, outside of Logan, Wade, and Rogue, I don't think my characterizations are that good.


	22. It's a Small World After All

**Anonymous:** You know, after I posted it, I thought, "Hey, I could totally add him next chapter without changing too much of my plan." Then you just go and string it all together in a nice little package to work with. Thank you.

**JediMutant93: **I can't tell you who the dad is! And no, it is not because I don't know. I do know but I can't let you know because everyone will know. If you had a profile, I could send you a private message of who he is. But you don't. So you don't get to know. I haven't seen Pyro written as sane so why not leave him as is? Thank you

**Sharky237: **Well, duh, internet. I'm slow sometimes. That really should have been obvious. The inner working of a bar fight are credited to this dude/chick (Idk) here, people, because of their many experiences. Kidding. He/she just pointed me in the right direction.

**Blackberryhuntress: **You get a shoutout because the mental image of those two with the vat was just funny. If I could draw like that, I would.

**Indy: **My decision has nothing to do with your pouting/glaring.

Everyone, I thank you.

Also, let's remember that it's still near dinnertime so it's daylight outside.

**

* * *

**

_This'll do._

The bar had neon signs on the inside on the walls, old posters, the tables had a visible sheen of something sticky to them. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of booze. A card game was going on in the back corner and there was a pool table in the opposite corner. It even had a jukebox. It was filled entirely with men.

It was perfect.

Rogue ignored the looks and few wolf whistles from the men and sat at the far left corner of the bar and nodded at the bartender. He looked her up and down and nodded back. She ordered a beer she had no intention of drinking. Bad experience. She turned the bar stool around to check out the bar and its patrons.

Aside from the entrance she came in, there was most likely an exit somewhere to the back. About a dozen men. Too drunk, not drunk enough. Looks nice too nice a guy. He's passed out. That one had too many friends.

A graying blond man who was at least fifty swayed to her side and leaned on the bar next to her. His wedding ring shone brightly on his left hand. He was too fat and too drunk. He wouldn't last long in a fight. With a smile that he probably thought was sexy or something, he leaned in close to Rogue.

"Where you been all my life?"

She didn't even look at him.

"Well, for the first half, I probably wasn't born yet. You can go," she waved her hand.

"Hey, c'mon," he tried to grab her hand but she moved it and he just grasped air. "We're both here for the sssame raisin."

"Yeah! Let's pick up some chicks!" she practically yelled that part, getting a laugh from the crowd of men who'd been listening in.

"Lissen, I got a car."

"Good for you."

"'S a real nice car. I'll let you drive it to my place. Or we could go to yours."

"Let me make this clear," she turned the bar stool so she was facing him and looked him in his bloodshot eyes. "It ain't happenin'."

"But –"

"Bonjour, cherie," a man she hadn't noticed when she came in draped his arm across her shoulder. "Did I keep ya waitin' long?" he was way too close to her.

She arched a brow at the guy and said slowly, "Not at all." Deciding to play along with the guy. It had nothing to do with the fact that the guy was kinda cute.

Mystery guy turned to drunk guy.

"Thanks for keepin' mon femme company, homme," he told him smoothly.

Drunk looked at him then at her then at him again.

He blinked.

"My wife was right!" he wailed. "I am a looser. She left me, y'know. I thought things were fine. But I came home and she was gone. I hate her," he glared down at the empty shot glass in his hand. Rogue watched him carefully more than a little wary. Then guy's head hit the bar and he started sobbing and moaning about Patty and how he was going to kill her little boyfriend.

Rogue sent the guy on her shoulder a look like the whole thing was his fault. He just smirked at her. She pushed his arm off and turned back to Drunk. Why was he wearing shades inside in the dark anyway? And why was she having a severe case of déjà vu?

Dang it. Now she sort of felt bad for the old guy and slightly uncomfortable. There was a grown man sitting right next to her who was crying his heart out. She hesitantly patted his shoulder awkwardly.

"There, there?"

The bartender brought her beer. She glanced at the man.

"Hey, Gramps?" she poked him. He turned to look at her. "This one's on me," she pushed the beer towards him. He sat up, tried a few times and missed, then grabbed the bottle and stared at it.

"Thanks. You're a good kid," he told the beer bottle. He turned to them "You got a good girl here, shares 'er beer. My wife didn't share beer. Don't let this one go." he got up and went to one of the tables in the back.

Rogue turned to the new guy. The really cute guy sitting on the bar stool facing her. Scratch that. Outright gorgeous man. His loose auburn hair hung an inch off of his shoulders. Tanned skin clothed in a tight red shirt revealing impressive muscles and dark jeans and a brown trench coat. His eyes were covered by a pair of expensive shades. He had a bit of scruff on his jaw, what would be called a goatee. That, she didn't much care for.

"I was handlin' him just fine, y'know."

"I could see that, cher," he leaned nonchalantly on the bar.

"Ain't your dear, Swamp Rat."

_Have I had this conversation before?_

"Ya right, River Rat. Desole," he brought his hand up and set a strand of Rogue white hair behind her ear. Rogue dared not flinch for fear of his hand touching her skin. She carefully eased back from him.

"Excuse me?"

"Tha's a Mississippi accent if I ever heard one. What brings you so far away from home?" he casually leaned forward a bit.

"I can tell ya right now it's none of your business."

She was starting to think coming here was a bad idea. Somehow, a fight didn't sound all that appealing anymore. Her anger had waned quite a bit. But this guy was working on her nerves.

"I was thinkin' we move things along to pleasure. How'd you like to have dinner wit' me?"

"Ya know, despite what you people seem to think, a gal doesn't walk into a bar because she wants to get picked up. It's possible she just enjoys the atmosphere of the place and just wants to sit and relax. It is possible!"

"Calm down, chere," he held up his hands. "Didn't mean t' upset ya."

She scoffed.

"It's hardly your fault alone. And I'm not upset."

"Hm. Your boyfriend maybe?"

She laughed at that one.

"Ya have no idea," she told him, "how many times I've seen my uncle use that one in some form or another."

He smiled at her.

"Ya should laugh more, chere. Ya have a nice laugh and a tres belle smile."

"I wonder how many other girls have those qualities," she arched a brow.

"Jealous?"

"Not in the least."

"Liar."

"Flirt."

"Ya know ya love it, chere."

Okay, she was going to need him to stop purring that word and looking at her like that when he said it or else she might start blushing. Anna blushed. The Rogue did not.

"What did I say 'bout callin' me chere?"

He pretended to think for a moment.

"Not to do it?"

"He can be taught."

"What else am I suppose to call ya?"

"My name is Rogue."

"Rogue," he said it like he was testing the name. "Just Rogue?"

"Just all you need to know, Mister…"

"Pardon, Rogue," he bowed slightly in his seat. "Remy Lebeau, at your service."

Rogue's eyes widened as recognition dawned.

That last trip to Disney Land.

_They weaved through the crowd, headed to one of the vendors, when Wade was bumped into by a sixteen year young boy._

_"That damned little Frenchy stole my wallet!"_

_"You're the boy who stole Wade's wallet," she informed him matter-of-factly," and now he's gonna kill you."_

_He took her hand and kissed it._

_"Remy Lebeau. 'S a pleasure."_

She blinked. Then quickly reached up and snatched his snatched his shades off of his face. He jerked back with his eyes closed. Rogue hooked the shades in the front of her shirt.

"Show me your eyes," her tone was soft, showing the statement to be more of a question.

He hesitated and if this was who she thought it was, she understood why. He turned back to face her and opened his eyes revealing them to be red on black.

"Wow," she put her elbow on the bar and her chin on her hand as she stared into his eyes, "it really is a small world."

"Dat's de the part where ya freak out and run away," he meant it as a joke, but she could tell that was the normal reaction."

"They're just eyes. Granted, they're different, but I guess they work the same as mine."

_I should really stop starin' at this man. I'll stop starin' when he stops havin' such pretty eyes._

"Mos'ly," he reached for his sunglasses, but she put a hand over them.

"There aint' no sun in here, Cajun."

She straightened up.

"You hungry? 'Cause I was thinkin' I'd get some pizza," she had her hands folded in her lap.

He arched a brow and stared at her like he was trying to figure her out.

_Well, I don't really get you either, Mr. Lebeau._

"I know a place couple blocks from here. Real Italian place," he responded after a while.

"Well, if you don't have any plans, would ya mind escorting a gal?" she allowed herself a small grin.

He put a hand to his heart and smiled.

"It'd be a pleasure."

He stood and offered her his arm. She hesitated a moment before she shrugged and took it.

The Rogue and the Gambit walked out of the bar arm in arm.

* * *

**A/N: **What can I say? Mondays are evil. I'm gonna be goin' to college in August so the updates will probably come a lot less frequent. How sad.

At the end, was that dumb? If you do nothing else, please answer that question. I kinda liked it 'cause the last one was 'The Rogue walked into the bar' and this one was that so it sorta goes together. Was the entire ROMY sequence just lame?

Also if you want to know about the reference to 'that last trip to Disney Land' with the mini flashback, read 'Adventures in Disney'. It won't take long, only a two shot.

Why is it that when you 'overhear', you hear somethin' you weren't supposed to, and when you 'overlook', you miss somethin' you should have seen? These are the things I ponder as I wonder. Not really.


	23. Clowns on the Left Jokers on the Right

Shoutout to my anonymouses, anonymice, whatever the plural for anonymous is, reviewers! I think I thanked everyone with a profile, if I missed you, this is a thank you to you too.

**Blackberryhuntress **is gonna draw me a picture! It will have Deadpool. Happy, happy, joy! I'm not being sarcastic; I'm actually very excited about it. Seriously.

* * *

The restaurant was called Salvatorri Brothers, a privately owned business that had been in business some years. It was a decent-size establishment with purposely dim lighting to trick couples into believing the atmosphere to be romantic and comfortable. Rogue couldn't help but think about Wade's reaction if he were to see this.

The boy was a flirt. A very good flirt and a charmer and funny. She genuinely liked him.

_Note to self: keep him away from my family._

After all, he was no good to her dead.

It was also interesting that he didn't seem to remember her. At all. But that was six years ago. Her hair had been longer, curly, and without the white streak. She didn't wear makeup when she was twelve. And there was quite a difference between a twelve year old girl and an eighteen year old woman. She wondered if he remembered that meeting at all. If he did, he gave no indication of it, and she had no intention of reminding him.

"Actually, I just moved here with my family 'bout two weeks ago South Carolina. Haven't been to Mississippi since I was six," she looked him

"What made Carolina so much better than Mississippi that yo' papa would move ya out?"

She shrugged.

"It wasn't Mississippi. And it's not like we moved directly there. We've lived on every side of the country. What about you?"

"What about moi, chere?"

"What is a good ol' Southern boy like yourself doin' in New York? I mean, I'm sure you're real lonesome for the swamp you crawled out of."

He let out a bark of laughter and put down his wine glass.

"Ya tryin' to make me choke?"

"It probably be funny," she answered honestly with faked innocence.

"Mm. Mon pere's got me up here for a job. I'm basically on loan t' dis guy 'til my contract is up."

Rogue started snickering. She bit her lip to try and make herself stop.

"What?"

"Nothin," she wasn't looking at him when she answered. "Um, I just had a thought. Ahem."

"Would you mind lettin' me in on de joke?"

"Heh, um, no."

"Please?"

She glanced at him then away and had to do a double take. He was giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"I like t' laugh too, chere."

Just then, their waiter came to the table.

_It's not a bell, but it's a save._

"So have you decided yet?"

"Oh, we haven't gotten any menus," Rogue looked up at the waiter and said.

"What's good here?" Remy asked.

The waiter looked up from his notedpad and glanced at the both of them.

"Oh, I can see you two are going to be a problem," then turned and walked away to get the menus.

"What crawled up his butt?" Rogue asked amazed with this guy's attitude. She didn't need his. She had her own, thanks.

"Naw, I got that figured out," Remy leaned towards her. "'S some kinda waiter technique to put ya on the defensive so ya don't keep callin' 'em over."

"Well, it's effective," Rogue glanced at the guy.

"Mais, I got a lil' technique of my own. Get him t' work wit' us."

"What?"

"Shower 'im wit' compliments," Remy saw the guy coming back to their table and sent Rogue a sly grin, "Watch dis."

He cleared his throat and took a sip of wine. The waiter handed them the menus.

"Here, let me know when you've decided," he was already turning away to the next table.

"Look at dis guy. He's so efficient," Remy said lowly but loud enough for their waiter to overhear as he started to look over the menu, "It's great service, hein?"

Rogue saw the waiter look back, clearly hearing Remy couldn't stifle a giggle.

_It wasn't a giggle,_ she objected mentally.

Sure, one of the psyches assured her, we believe you.

"Remy, he heard you."

"Je sais, dat's de whole point," he grinned at her and returned his attention to the menu as the waiter came back.

Rogue cleared her throat and quickly calmed herself.

"I thought you folks might enjoy some picacho bread," he set the bowl down on the table, smiling this time.

Rogue glanced at Remy who returned her look and had to look away before she burst out in laughter again.

"I sprinkled parmesan on there for you and some olive paste, you must try it," he looked at both of them.

"Thank you," "Merci," they said at the same time.

She watched him walk off and before he was too far away said, "He's much too good lookin' to be a waiter. He must be a model."

"Or a Kennedy," Remy added.

The waiter paused and ran his hand through his thick black hair. Remy chuckled and Rogue picked up her menu and held it in front of her face. Remy could see it shaking from her contained laughter.

Some time later after dinner, their waiter was serving a new table with an older couple just next to them.

"Oh, I can see you two are going to be a problem."

"Did you see what he just did to them?" Rogue stared after the guy in disbelief. The whole time, he'd been so nice to them. Yeah, they were sort of manipulating him, but still.

"Mmhmm. Now it's time t' have some fun wit' 'im," Remy gave her a decidedly wicked smile.

"How?" she asked, not bothering to disguise her eagerness.

"What we do now dat we got our food and ain't worried 'bout him spittin' in it is the same thing but negative."

The waiter made his way over.

"Watch dis," Remy took a sip of his coffee.

"How are my two favorite customers?" Waiter asked. "Was I right about the cherries jubilee?"

"Mm. Geoffrey, dis has been amazing. You've turned a simple meal into a dining experience."

_Could he lay it on any thicker?_ Rogue wondered.

_You don't complain when he's telling you pretty words, _one of the psyches pointed out.

Rogue kept her mouth shut and smiled up at Geoffrey the waiter.

"Well, thank you, Remy. I have to say it's been a pleasure serving you two."

Remy inclined his head, "Merci."

"I'll get you some more coffee."

He turned to walk away.

"What a jerk," Remy muttered.

Geoffrey turned around.

"Excuse me?"

"More coffee," Remy said.

"With cream," Rogue added smiling pleasantly.

Geoffrey opened his mouth but shut it then turned to go.

"Moron," she stated.

He glanced back then headed left before he turned and went right and knocked over a waitress sending the flambé flying. The fire from the flambé went out but it knocked over a candle that set a curtain on fire.

Rogue eye's widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I think dat's our cue chere," Remy stood taking her hand to help her up. Before they left, he dug into his pocket and pulled out two dollars and left it on the table as a tip. The two quickly but covertly went out the door into the dark.

They were several blocks away when a fire truck went by, lights flashing. Then another one. They made the mistake at looking at the other. Then they started laughing hysterically. Rogue had to lean on Remy for support.

"No, this is serious," Rogue pushed off of him and backed away, trying to gain composure and glad she could claim that her flushed face was from all the hysterics. "Someone could be hurt."

"You're right," he cleared his throat. "It's wrong t' laugh at others misfortune."

"Yeah. Terrible."

She was almost recovered when Remy asked,

"You think he's gonna get fired?"

That sent her back into the mad laughing fit. When they were both okay, they continued walking. She didn't know where they were going but decided to just let him lead.

"Ya never did tell me what had you upset earlier," he didn't directly ask. Just let her know if she wanted to talk about it, he'd listen. Or she could leave it alone if she wanted.

"My parents have issues with each other and have me in the middle of it."

He didn't press her but she felt compelled to continue.

"They haven't seen each other for almost twenty years. I haven't seen my mom in twelve. I get five minutes with her before my dad shows up and… They both have very passionate personalities, ya know?"

"Kinda just blow up, huh?"

"That's a good way to describe it."

She was drawing on memories from her father of their earlier fights.

"And are you as 'passionate' as your parents?"

"What you think I was doin' in the bar in the first place?"

"Dat's not de safest thing for ya t' do when ya get mad, chere. Ya could get hurt. Then I'd have t' hurt de fool who hurt you."

"Ain't that the sweetest thing?" she drawled.

He stopped her with a hand by grabbing her hand and holding her in place.

"I'm serious," he looked her in the eye.

"I can see that."

She'd been about to say something else but had to go and have those gorgeous eyes. She found herself moving closer to him. He put his other hand on her waist. He lowered his head.

'And when you're out there without a care, Yeah, I was out of touch!'

Rogue's phone was going off, Wade's personal ringtone notifying her of the caller. She backed away from Remy, blushing like crazy and mentally reprimanding herself for getting that close to him.

'But it wasn't because I didn't know enough, I just knew too much…'

"I need to get this."

"G' ahead," he backed up a couple steps to give her a bit of privacy.

'Does that make me crazy? Probably…'

She pulled the cell phone out of her pocket and pushed a strand of white hair behind her ear before answering.

"Hello?"

"Do you have any idea what time it is, young lady?" Wade sounded like the perfect example of parental disapproval.

"Not really."

"Really? Hold on. Yo, kid!" she heard him yell to someone else. "Yeah, you with the face. What time is it? Only ten twenty? You sure? It is ten twenty!"

"So I gathered."

"Are you coming home soon?"

"Is my room intact?"

"Oh yeah! You totally missed it. They were yelling and cursing and all taunting then Ravey just smacked him a good upside the head. That really pissed him off. He was about to jump her but Charlie and Jeanie paralyzed them with their minds and then your little brother took them to the office but they wouldn't let me in which sucks 'cause I'm apart of this family too but I don't care anyway so they suck."

"Did you actually need something?"

"Yeah, you here so we can have the D.D.R session."

"You mean D.R. and why are we doin' it tonight instead of in the morning?"

"Reasons I don't remember. Just get here, Roguey."

"Fine, see ya in a few."

"Buh-bye now!"

She closed the phone and slipped it back in her pocket. Turning to Remy, he was watching her with a lit cigarette in his mouth leaning on the wall of the building. Rogue wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"You smoke," disappointment was clear in her voice and she forgot about Wade for a moment.

He took a deep drag and held it. The smoke didn't come out.

"Is dat a problem, chere?" wisps of smoke came out of his mouth. Combined with his red and black eyes, it had an impressive effect.

"Besides the fact that it's gross and it'll kill ya, no, no problem."

"'M touched dat ya care," his tone was sarcastic but he brought the death stick away from his lips. A magenta glow formed around it and he flicked it away. It popped and then it was ashes in the wind.

"What did you do?"

"Blew it up. I can charge things wit' kinetic energy and make 'em go boom."

"Hm. Listen, that was my uncle on the phone. I gotta get home."

He frowned for a moment and if a ten year old boy had the same expression, Rogue would accuse him of pouting. Then he offered her a smile.

"Do ya need a ride?"

"That'd be nice. But what are you gonna do? Steal it?"

He chuckled, "Not today. Come on," he put his arm around her shoulder as they walked on. "I got my bike parked back at the bar."

* * *

Some time later, Remy stopped his 'beautiful hunk of bike' as Rogue had described it outside the gates of a huge mansion. He was reluctant to do so since she'd been holding on to him very tightly after he did the wheelie. Also, he officially loved the extremely curvy road up here. Rogue climbed off of the back and hit him on the shoulder.

"You did that on purpose," she accused him.

He lifted the visor of his helmet and gave her a very non-innocent smile.

"Did what on purpose, chere?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Cute, Remy."

"I thought ya hadn't noticed."

"Jerk."

"Belle."

He enjoyed making this girl blush. It was easy but so fun. Somewhat odd. Most girls, took a bit of flattery and a lot touching to get that kind of reaction. It was because they were use to it. Men were constantly telling them things they'd already convinced themselves of. This girl, this lovely women, it seemed did not. Which he didn't understand.

She shook her head.

"You just don't stop."

He leaned forward on the bike.

"Ya don' want me to."

"You're too cocky, Cajun," she told him starting to walk away.

"Rogue."

She spun around.

"Oui?"

"Un, speak French more. It's sexy when you do it."

There was that blush again.

"Or you're just a real horny bastard. Seriously, it was one word."

"Deux," he went on like she hadn't interrupted him, "next time ya need t' work off your anger, call moi."

"I don't have your number."

"I put it in your phone already."

She laughed and rewarded him with another smile.

"In that case, I'll probably be callin' ya soon. Good night, Remy," as she spoke, she was entering the code into the security pad.

"Bonne nuit, chere."

He stayed where he was and watched her walk away and didn't move until she was safely indoors like a gentleman. Remy never claimed to be a gentleman but his Tante Mattie had certainly tried and sometimes he pretended. As he backed up, he saw a sign. Literally.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

He stared at it a moment. Then he laughed.

_Well, dat certainly makes things more interestin'._

He sped off, headed to the base to give the boss man the goods from the successful heist he'd gone to the bar to celebrate.

_Ol' Buckethead would just _love_ dis. Mais then, I ain't got t' tell him, now do I?_

* * *

As soon as Rogue stepped in, she was surrounded by the girls who'd crashed into her room earlier. She shut the door behind her and endured the barrage of words.

"Rogue, we are so sorry for earlier," Kitty apologized.

"Chica, what was with that whole thing in your room," Jubilee asked.

"Is Mystique really your mom? Man, I'd just die!" Tabby exclmaied.

"Tabby!" Amara admonished her friend who paid her no mind.

"Why are you smiling?" Danielle looked at Rogue curiously. Indeed, Rogue was smiling. In fact, she'd had a grin slapped on her since Remy told her he put his number in her phone. When Danielle pointed it out, she tried to stop, but couldn't. Oh, well.

"You say that like she's not allowed to smile," Jubilee rolled her eyes.

"No, she's right. Rogue isn't the smile type," Tabby looked at her with a speculative gaze. "Wait a minute. That's not just any smile. That's a 'I've been out with a guy' smile."

"Hold up," Kitty dropped her apologeticness and minutely examined Rogue. "A hot guy at that."

Rogue giggled.

_They got all that from a smile?_

The girls gasped.

"Just how hot was this guy?" Jubilee wanted to know.

"He must have been gorgeous if she's still giggling about it," Amara stated.

"Don't we have a danger room session to get ready for?" Rogue attempted to change the subject as she pushed past them and headed upstairs. Tabby and Kitty stayed right next to her while the other three flanked her.

"You're not getting away so easy," Amara told her.

They dogged her steps the entire way to her room. She steadfastly refused to give them any straight answers. When she reached her door, she turned to them.

"As much fun as this interrogation is, ladies, I need to change clothes."

Suddenly, Tabby jumped forward and sniffed her breath. Tabby's eyes widened.

"Whoa."

"What? What's whoa," Jubilee asked. "I will drop a sparkler down your shirt if you don't spill."

Rogue stayed in place, curious what Tabby had gotten from smelling her breath. She knew what Logan could get from it, but as far as she knew, super senses wasn't apart of Tabby's mutation.

"You," Tabby pointed at her, a grin of her own in place, "have a distinct scent of wine on your breath meaning you either went out with a hot bartender, a cute guy with a good fake I.D., or a gorgeous not-much-older guy. Am I close?"

The girls looked wide-eyed from Tabby to Rogue who smirked at them.

"It'd be the third one. None of you are to tell my dad or Wade or anyone else. If y'all keep ya mouths shut, I won't get back at y'all for eavesdroppin'."

"Can we have details?" Amara asked hopefully.

"I don't think so."

"Aw."

"Well, that was fun," Danielle said, "Go now, ladies. Go get changed."

"Yeah, fine," Kitty followed her to their room that they shared.

Amara and Jubilee walked off too, though with one more try.

"You're totally sure you don't wanna tell us?" Jubilee asked.

Rogue just shook her head, her smile becoming amused. When they were gone, only Tabby was left.

"I thought they'd never leave. So just between us two girls, did he –"

"No, Tabby."

"Hey," she held up her hands, "can't blame a girl for trying," she started to walk off but then, "Oh yeah, thank you so much for knocking Emma's butt on the floor," she stepped back up and shook her hand.

"It was a pleasure."

"I'm sure. See ya in D.R."

* * *

When Rogue made it down to the Danger Room, the girls minus Danielle and plus Jean were there. On the boys half, Bobby, Kurt, Sam, Scott, Roberto, and Evan were there. Jean walked up to her.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"You scared Sam, Kurt keeps looking at you weird, and you punched Emma in the mouth. Though, I imagine that would improve things."

Rogue looked at Jean with surprise on her face. From what she heard, Miss Jean Grey was not the sort of girl who would condone, much less approve, of punching someone. Maybe it was an Emma thing.

"Yeah, it did. I'm actually fine, Jean. Thanks for askin'."

"All right. If you ever need to talk, I'll listen."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Listen up, kiddies!" Deadpool called everyone to attention from where he was standing in the center of the room. "We got options tonight. You guys can split in two teams of six, three teams of four, four teams of three, or six teams of two. After you decide that, you'll be playing a game of survival. If you get a fatal hit in the head or heart, you're out. Anywhere else, nine times. Anything goes. Now pick your little teams and let's get started."

After a short debate with Tabby insisting it be girls against guys and trying to get them to bet against her as opposed to mix teams, it came out as three four man teams. Shadowcat, Jubilee, Iceman, and Nightcrawler on Blue team, Cyclops, Magma, Spyke, and Jean on Red Team, and Rogue, Boom-Boom, Cannonball, and Sunspot on Green team. When Deadpool headed to the control booth to start the session, Nightcrawler 'ported next to Rogue.

"Um, hello," he waved nervously.

"What's up?" She asked even though she had a pretty good idea what he wanted.

"About earlier vith…uh, vhat zhey said. Can ve talk about zhat later?"

"'Bout you bein' my brother?"

"Ja."

"All right. We will. By the way, I think it's very cool."

"Look alive, people!" Deadpool's voice over the speakers interrupted anymore possible bonding moment the two could have at the moment.

The featureless, metal room morphed into what looked like a carnival or circus. Colorful tents, cages for the animals, trucks, food vendors. Except there were no people but the teams.

"Hey, wait a minute," Spyke said after a moment. "What are we surviving?"

The others looked at each other for an answer to the obvious question. No one knew. Then Rogue facepalmed.

"What?" Spyke asked.

In the distance, a high-pitch laugh could be heard. The eerie sound echoed around the carnival area until it seemed to come from all around. That was because it did. A tall, gangly, white-faced man with a painted smile and razor teeth stepped from out of the shadows. After him, others could clearly be seen all around them.

"That is what," Rogue said, drawing the katana from her back and taking a defensive stance, and getting surprised looks from the others. Apparently, they hadn't noticed the swords on her back.

"Clowns? Is this dude for real?" Sunspot stared at their opponents incredulous.

"Dude, haven't you seen 'IT'?" Iceman was already iced up and looking at all of the clowns wearily. "It looked just like them."

"They're just clowns!" he continued to object.

As if on cue, one of the demonic clowns jumped on his back. He freaked out, temporarily forgetting he had super-strength. The demon clown screamed and let go when Boom-Boom set off a cherry bomb down its shirt. Then all of the clowns started their insane laughter and moved forward as one. Sunspot's eyes practically bugged out of his head now.

As the teams were being mentally scarred for the rest of their lives, Deadpool was up in the control booth rolling on the floor laughing at their terrified faces until he couldn't breath. He might have actually died from asphyxiation a couple of times and came back.

* * *

A/N: Because my D.R sessions are weak, and this chapter is twice as long as usual, it stops there.

I actually hadn't intended to introduce Remy this early(late) but some people, you know who you are, wouldn't shut up about him. Just wait til you get a fic. I'm gonna nag. His grand entrance would have really been something too. **J.J. Bean** knows what I'm talkin' 'bout. But y'all will still get to read about what would have been Remy's first appearance later. Do not ask when. JUST DON'T DO IT!

The bit with the waiter is from My Wife and Kids which I imagined is owned by that guy who plays Michael. Obviously not me. The episode is quality time and you can watch it on youtube.

**This was how I was gonna do one of the scenes:**

"We got options tonight, boys and girls. You can have a D.R. session now or we can get up at dark-o-clock in the morning. I'll be in charge of it either way."

"How come?" a boy with weird orange and yellow hair asked.

"Charlie said something about it not being a good idea for Logan to be responsible for the well being of the students while he was 'upset'," Wade said, forming quotation marks with his hands.

"All in favor of getting this over with, raise your hand," Kitty yelled.

"Majority wins, we'll go now," Amara said.

"You have ten minutes, kiddies," Wade turned and walked out. Rogue sent the others a glance before she followed.

"Why did you tell them they had a choice but me that we are for sure doin' it tonight?"

"I was hoping they'd choose to do it in the morning so I could crush their little hopes. Oh, well. Go get dressed, Sunshine."

**Should I start a blooper reel for discarded ideas? If so, should it be a part of the main story or separate?**

Oh, crap…I'm going to be 18 next year. A legal adult. With…responsibility. THAT SUCKS! I'm having a mid-life crisis. I need to buy a motorbike. Or steal, I mean, borrow, like how Wade borrows lol, Army Boy's even though I have no idea how to drive it! Good plan!


	24. Resolving Monday

Blue carefully opens the door only wide enough for her to slip through. She glances around furtively, seeing bare outlines in the dark as she tip toes over to drop off the next chapter. Suddenly, lights flash on and she's face to mask with Deadpool.

"Hi."

She screams bloody murder and whacks him in the head out of reflex. He doesn't flinch.

"Don't scare me like that! What if they heard you?" she whisper-shouts at him.

"Me? I'm not the one screaming like a girl for once. Don't blame me."

"Whatever," she creeps over to the corner and looks around it. The area is covered with readers.

"So what's the plan?" Deadpool asks her. Why he's taking orders from her, I have no idea. "Because that's how you're writing it. Why do you author people ask these stupid questions?"

Focus!

"I swear you people are crazier than me," he mutters.

"Would you listen to me!" Blue hisses.

"What?"

"We need a distraction."

She crooks a finger for him to bend down so she can tell him the plan. He nods along until she's done, straightens, and says,

"So…YOU WANT ME TO DRESS IN DRAG AND DO THE HULA!" o.0

* * *

**Warning to Blackberryhuntress's friend. Mentions of demon clowns. I take no responsibility if you are further freaked out by them. Though I will be amused by it.**

* * *

Deadpool had recovered enough from his hysterics to the point that he was capable of now sitting in the chair without falling out while he laughed. On one of the screens, he saw that the teams were doing fairly well. Team Blue had lost Iceman due to him being show-offy for his girl, Jubilee. Deadpool was surprised that she'd lasted this long. But then, she was an under dog and they seemed to have an annoying knack of always winning, no matter how all around outmatched they were. Apparently, blinding and/or blasting the things with the sparklyness and or phasing/'porting them into walls or the ground was highly effective. Shadowcat and Nightcrawler were showing great teamwork. You know, when they weren't outright running for their lives.

After Miss I'm-so-special-I-don't-have-a-code-name went down, Boyfriend had went all macho, got sloppy, and got shot 'through' the heart –_and you're to blame, honey, you give love a bad name! –_ ahem, when one of the clowns pulled this really big shotgun out of his whazzoo apparently. Of course, it was just a paintball shotgun. Deadpool wasn't that crazy. Well, yes, he was, but he showed restraint every blue moon. That left Magma and Spyke as the last of the Red Team. Although, when Deadpool saw them run into the house of mirrors, he suspected they wouldn't last much longer, no matter how good their clown shishkabob idea was.

After his initial trauma, Sunspot seemed to be determined not to get killed by the clowns, not only because he was actually now very scared of them but also because he would never live it down. Deadpool didn't know what happened to Cannonball, but he was gone though. All he knew is that the little lights showing who was still active in the session had blipped off for him. Despite that, Boom-Boom and Rogue were totally kicking butt. Green team was extremely effective what with brute strength, explosives, and blades. There were few problems that strategic application of explosives couldn't solve. Deadpool felt a beam of pride as he watched his niece decapitate a clown that was foaming at the mouth. The blonde bomber gleefully tossed mini bombs all around her and Rogue, making a sort of trench and taking out their opponents at the same time. Sunspot had torn a pole from out of the ground and it looked like he was playing baseball with the clowns' heads.

Deadpool glanced at another screen. They'd been in there for almost an hour. How long had the bald guy said to keep them? Hmm. He should probably let them out. But they hadn't figured out the best part about the clowns. He was kinda disappointed because he'd given it a lot of thought

'_Five minutes isn't a lot of_ _thought_.'

'**Are you forgetting who we're talking about here? This occasion should be entered into the record books.**'

Deadpool ignored his internal dialogue since he didn't approve of them not being in their normal yellow box forms and sighed to himself. Ten more minutes, and he'd let them go. Probably. Maybe. He glanced at how Rogue was doing. Eh, she didn't look too tired. Since she was still going strong, the rest could totally go for more than ten minutes. Just as he'd decided to continue to watch until he got bored, and when has Deadpool ever bored of mass amounts of mindless slaughter, the door to the control room opened and Warren walked in.

"Warren, my man! Wassup! Hey, let me hold a fifty," meaning 'give me fifty dollars that you and I both know I have no intention of repaying.'

"No," he told him.

"Are the others still training? The sessions don't usually last this long. Oh the Bloody Mary!"

At that moment, Sunspot was flying through the air in front of the control room window. Yes, he had flying capabilities, but the clowns had captured Sunspot, loaded him onto a cannon, and shot him through the air and that was the reason he was currently air-born. He hit the far wall _a la _George of the Jungle. The two men simultaneously winced.

"That's gotta hurt," Deadpool murmured in sympathy.

"What in the world," Warren said as he watched the monitors. A giant demon clown, at least twenty feet tall, was chasing the remaining members of Red Team, Spyke and Magma. It stepped on the normal demon clowns that were attacking the Blue Team. At that point, they completely forwent the whole 'opposing teams' thing and went after the giant clown.

"I've seen enough," Warren tried to shut off the program, but Wade grabbed his arm.

"Ex-squeeze me, do I interrupt you while you having your kicks and giggles? I mean, while your teaching. I don't think so. How 'bout you do things your way, I do them mine, and you move away from the remote control. These kids got at least fifteen more minutes, at most an hour."

Long story short, Warren didn't agree with Deadpool's method –

'_Who did?'_

' **The writer and the readers apparently. A sadistic lot, that bunch. Otherwise, they wouldn't still be reading this and do something productive with their lives.'**

'…_Aaaaaaaaaaaaall righty then!'_

method and soon found himself in a headlock. While he was struggling to get out of it, Deadpool was subconsciously strangling him as he paid him half of his attention and the other on the action/chaos on the screens. Lucky for Warren, Betsy came in. Deadpool glanced over.

"This isn't what it looks like."

She crossed her arms and glared at him dangerously.

"It looks like you're strangling my fiancé."

"Really? When did you two get engaged? How could you lead me on like that?" he sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Drop him."

"'Kay," and Deadpool did, now completely normal. Deadpool…normal. That just does not read right. He was Deadpool's version of normal. Wait…he was no longer about to cry. Warren fell on the floor, gasping. Betsy settled down next to him on her knees.

"Honestly, Warren, I didn't really expect this kind of rough housing from you."

"I…wasn't…" he tried to tell her it wasn't, but Deadpool was making suggestive motions demonstrating severe violence if he didn't keep his mouth shut. Like, holding a shotgun, apparently a big one, because when he 'pulled the trigger' he flew back three feet. When Betsy glanced over her shoulder at him, he was casually leaning on the control board.

"Hasn't this session been running on a bit long?" she asked.

"You think so? I wasn't really sure, you know. First time on my own. But hey, if you say so, Betsy," he lied so convincingly, Warren would have believed him if he wasn't sporting a bruise now. Deadpool ignored the angel's mutterings, turned around, and shut down the program.

"All right! This is the part when I go tell everyone how they did, yeah?"

"Yes, Wade," Betsy told him distractedly. "Are you all right, Warren?"

Down below, Rogue sank to one knee, using her katana for a crutch as she tried to calm her breathing. Roberto had flat out collapsed next to her though he was still conscious. Tabby was using Roberto's back as a pillow. The other teams were situated similarly, moans and groans combining in a chaotic chorus.

"You guys look like crap," Deadpool told them.

"I think I hate you," Spyke stated calmly.

"Yeah, yeah, kid. Join the club. Cyclops, you first. You want to be the leader or something, am I right?

"I'm a good choice for it. I think I would do –"

"Yes or no question, not your friggin' resume. Okay. I get that you're in love or whatever with your girl. Nothin' wrong with the mushy stuff. But as the leader, you can't go crazy trying to take out the _one _that took her out when you got five creepin' up on your teammates' backs. They're not looking back there because you're supposed to be covering them. Got it?"

"Yeah."

Deadpool went on to tell the Red Team what he approved of, what they 'sucked lima beans through a straw. Do you realize how hard you have to suck in order to do that?', and what to improve on.

"Slushy," he addressed Iceman, "next time, don't try and be such a show out in front of your girlfriend," he waved a hand at Jubilee who turned to Bobby with wide eyes. "It might help you to not die so soon."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"I'm not his girlfriend!" They said at the same time.

"Uh-huh, and I'm an upstanding, tax paying, U.S citizen. You other three, good teamwork, blah yada blah. I like the creativity dropping them onto the other teams, Nightcrawler was a nice touch."

"And you!" he pointed to Cannonball, "What the heck happened to you? No, seriously, I didn't see it."

"I'm not real sure. One minute, I'm flyin' above Tabby and the next, I'm blown off course and crash into the wall."

Tabby is biting her lip while pointedly not looking at the Southern boy. Rogue, Roberto and everyone else is looking at her. She glanced around at everyone before she threw up her hands.

"Why do you all assume it was me?"

"Because you're accident prone," Amara supplied.

"And kinda crazy," Bobby added.

"Thank you," she told him. She turned to Sam and clapped him on the back. "Sorry 'bout that, Sammy. That one had a little bit more boom to it than it was supposed to."

Rogue noticed that Sam colored a bit at the contact and stutter that it was all right.

"Yeah, well, that's okay," Deadpool said, "Y'all are here to learn how to control your powers and stuff and you're not fatally injured so I won't get nagged at for anything…well, no, I might still get nagged. Aside from that, I wholeheartedly approve of the excessive overkill bomb-wise. I still prefer C4 though. You know, I once made a chair out of C4."

"Vhat happened to it?" Kurt asked from where he was sprawled across Kitty's lap who either didn't notice or didn't care.

"I blew it up. Stupid zombies. Anyway, Robbie."

"It's Roberto."

"I'm sorry, do you want to be the new Bob?" he asked with feigned politeness.

"Tell him 'no'," Rogue ordered him. "Trust me."

"Uh," he looked back at Deadpool, "No, thanks."

"Rogue, why you gotta do me like that? How am I supposed to get minions if you don't let me trap them?"

Rogue gave him a blank look.

"You know, I'd really love t' sleep some tonight so if ya could hurry this up," she said.

"Fine. Whatever. Sunspot, you did good with the whole kill-the-clowns thing and Roguey, so did you. Though you were a bit sloppy with your offense, and didn't I tell you when you go for the jugular, you cut the opposite way to avoid the blood spray? I think I did. Maybe I just did it in my head. Hm. Obviously, Green Team wins since only one of their teammates was eaten by the demon clowns from the seventh circle of hell."

"Awesome! So what'd we win?" Tabby asked.

"Did I say anything about winning something?" Wade pulled off his mask and let it hang around the back of his neck.

"I don't think – mmph!" Sam turned red when Tabby put her hand over his mouth. Rogue didn't think it was because of lack of air but more to the fact that he was severely crushing on her.

"You sure did," Roberto said. "You said the winning team gets out of training sessions for a month."

"No way! He did –" Spyke cut himself off when Rogue raised one of her katana. "I mean, yeah, you totally did! Sure did!" he quickly backtracked, having seen the way Rogue had brutalized those clowns. _Male _clowns. Obviously, someone has been playing Heavenly Sword.

"'Kay, fine. No sessions for Green Team. Now get out of here. Go shower, 'cause let me tell you, y'all are seriously funked up. Whoo!"

Even after he turned and walked out, most of the students still didn't move, content to lie on the ground and trying to repress the last hour or so. The others crawled and stumbled out of the training room. None of the past hour could have been legal. No way. Rogue reluctantly commanded her aching body to get up. It did, but protested the entire movement wholeheartedly.

_Well, you wanted a fight before, remember?_

"Hey, Kurt?" she called. She pushed her hair back from her sweaty face.

"Ugh?"

"We still havin' that talk?"

"Ja. Coming."

His tail twitched. Otherwise, he didn't move.

"Are you okay?"

"Define 'okay'."

"Don't make me come over there. You're way too far."

"Vait for it."

Rogue shifted her weight and sheathed her katana as she waited for…her brother. Her little brother. Yeah, that was weird. Why did she remind him about 'the talk'? She should have kept her mouth shut, crawled up to her bed and died.

BAMF

Kurt touched her shoulder and

BAMF

'ported them to his room. There wasn't a floor. That is, she was sure there was somewhere beneath the clothes that coated it. He moved away from her to clear a path to the desk.

"Sorry about zhe mess. Vake up vas a little uh…" he scrunched up his face looking for the word.

"Crazy?" she supplied.

"I vas going to say somezhing a little more graphic but zhat vorks too," he tossed a shirt over to the other side of the room and hopped up onto now clear desk. He patted the desk chair.

"Zhere you go," he grinned at her.

She tiredly made her over and unceremoniously plopped into the chair.

"Sooo…" Kurt said. "I'm your brother. You said you vere okay vith zhat earlier."

"I'm more than okay with it. I've always wanted a baby brother. Or a dog, but that's beside the point."

"Oookay."

"I'm messin' witcha, Kurt. I'm entitled to that now. Part of being a family. Huh, especially this one."

_Smoke, rubble, and the dead were everywhere. He stood over to my left. He just killed the last one. He turned to me. 'You're my baby brother. No one kills you but me.' Blood dripped from his hand._

Rogue blinked and swallowed, coming back from that flash of unexpected and unrequested memory, either Victor's or Logan's.

_That was…queer._

"So zhen, as family and in the spirit of sibling relations, can I drive your motorcycle?" he asked hopefully, and Rogue got to experience another pair of puppy dog eyes.

"Uh, I…I don't really think that I would be completely okay with that at this time."

"Could you teach me how to drive it zhough? Chicks dig guys vith bikes."

"I could teach you how to drive Wade's."

"Is zhat a good idea?" he asked uncertainly. "Using his bike?"

"He'll be fine," Rogue waved his worry away. "He likes you."

"Are you sure? Because I zhink he has a thing against all guys."

"Well, you're related, and that has more to do with how a guy looks at me. Wade's crazy-protective."

"I'm pretty sure he's just straight crazy."

"Yeah. Remind me to tell you what happened to my first boyfriend sometime," Rogue leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.

"Zhere vas more I vanted to talk about but I zhink I might have amnesia or somezhing."

"That's fine. It's been a crazy day, y'know? At school tomorrow we –CRAP!" Rogue jumped up out of the chair.

"I actually try to avoid doing zhat at school."

"No, not school, the homework! Are the teachers real strict 'bout it?"

"Zhey'll probably give you detention. Vhat didn't you finish?"

"Everything! I did nothing! Man, I do not want to spend my week in detention."

"Maybe you could-"

Wade opened the door and poked his head in.

"Oh, there you are. Me and Jimmy are going out to, well," he tilted his head. "It's probably best if I don't tell you so that way you can have semi-plausible deniability. We'll be back in the afternoon so don't freak out. 'Kay, love you, bye!" his popped back out and he shut the door.

"Oh, yeah, whatever. Just go, don't bother talkin' to me. Jerks," Rogue put her hands on her hips and looked over her shoulder at Kurt. "Do I even wanna know how that meeting went down?"

"Vell, I learned a lot of new vords. Zhey didn't really get to any facts of what happened vith zhem or who my father is. Mainly a lot of yelling. I zhink zhe professor vanted me zhere to discourage zhem to fight each other. Zhen mother opened one of zhe windows and flew off."

"Great."

"Maybe you can get zhe professor to write you a note for emotional distress or somezhing. I mean, who can focus on homework vhen your parents are trying to kill each other, right?"

"Kurt," she smiled at him, "you are a genius! That should work."

"I try," is what he would have said, but a yawn caught him.

"Ya might wanna get a shower before the other guys."

"Yeah, fine."

A mischievous smile spread across his face. He stretched his arms out.

"Good night hug!"

"Oh, no!" Rogue back up, intending to get to the door. "No, I don't do hugs, smelly boy."

_Unless it's Remy. If it was Remy, _totally _different story._

_Hey! When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it._

_"_Not like you're a bed of roses yourself. You need some love, Rogue."

He'd hopped off the desk, edging closer to Rogue as she backed up. Just as he lunged to tackle his sister, the door swung open, Rogue dodged, Kurt hit Jamie who multiplied into three more.

Rogue couldn't help but laugh, even as she took the opportunity to run.

"G' Night, Kurt!" she waved.

"Zhis isn't over! You vill be hugged!"

"Good luck with that," she called back as she disappeared around the corner.

_Bath and bed, here I come!_

**

* * *

**

Wade rode behind Logan on his own bike, following the older man's lead. They'd left for one reason and one reason only: Killin' Natzis. Oh, wait no. Sorry, um…

Wade rolled his eyes behind his helmet.

"Obviously, you need help. Just let it go and let me do it," he said.

Fine.

All right, so basically, the gist of it is that me and Jimmy are going to go AWOL on a bar full of steroid-pumped losers that no one will be too broken up about to relieve some of Jimmy's anger because he got slapped twice by Ravey and he didn't get to hit her back 'cause whoever said 'don't hit girls' was obviously never hit by one. Chivalry is, in fact, dead. I should know. I killed him.

Anything else you need?

'_You're being really mean.'_

'**Um, did someone forget who they're talking to here?'**

'_But more than usual, I mean.'_

'**Well, duh! She made us dress in drag and do the hula and then we had to run from rabid readers!'**

'_He did that hula a little too well.'_

'**Yeah, he did.'**

"Hey! Both of you shut up! She's trying to wrap this chapter up and I'm bored now."

'_Fine. Rude.'_

'**Just say so.'**

* * *

A/N: Man, do I know how to drag things out or what? It's still Monday! The reason this is so late has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I started school on Friday. We haven't done anything, the diagnostic essay didn't count. It's because of what I got goin' in the Avatar fandom (25th Zai Week! I went stupid with it!) and the fact I was trying to work out some details for a future chapter. I make no apologies for the clowns unless you are a clown and I apologize for offending you but even you must admit you creep yourself out sometimes.

The slight bit of fourth wall breaking is due to the fact that the focus is on Wade at the time and he breaks the fourth wall like he gets paid for it. The italics and bolds represent his 'yellow boxes' which you would have in an illustrated comic. They're his brain and I think the other one is common sense. I'm not certain.

Anyone got a problem with Tabby/Sam?

The Lion King totally forever rules over most every animated singing animal cartoon ever.

Sunspot is semi-invulnerable, right? 'Cause he is now. I had way too much fun with the clowns. And has anyone besides me played Heavenly Sword?

So I've mostly abandoned the idea of making my first fic a serious kind of thing because having Deadpool in it doesn't really allow for serious. Oh, well. I like it this way. I might still try though. Make a poor imitation of **Jamie Hook**'s brilliant style.

Reviewing public, anonymous reading lurkers, peoples who favorite and alert without leaving reviews but ask for reviews in their profiles because, yes, I do read them, THANK YOU!


	25. This Is the Calm

**Shadow Flip Flops of DOOM**(!), just letting you know that as soon as I read that, I started this chapter. Not that a lot got done, but still. But don't go gettin' bratty on me.

Reviewers and readers alike: Thank you

Let me know if you spot mistakes or inconsistencies. I didn't re-read this.

* * *

Tuesday was better than Monday in every possible way. Actually, every day was better than Monday because, you know, Monday is evil. Not the point. The point is that Rogue got first dibs on the bathroom that morning, got the excuse slips and a lecture about hitting people in the face from the professor, and breakfast all before she had to get to school.

Throughout her preparations, Kurt had tried to ambush her. Apparently, the hug war was still on. However, Rogue was not above sacrificing casualties. If anyone was nearby, she'd use them as a human shield or simply throw them at him and run.

She decided she should come up with a better idea when Jamie 'accidentally' hit a stand that had a really expensive looking vase that tipped over. Fortunately, he'd hit the stand hard enough that he doubled and caught it before it hit the ground. With stealth befitting her ninja training (What? Wade's a ninja therefore all of his training is classified under ninja.), Rogue managed to sneak back upstairs, rush Kitty along, and race back downstairs to her bike.

"But I, like, haven't even eaten!"

Rogue detoured through the kitchen, stole a Pop-Tart for Kitty off of Bobby's plate and went to her bike. Just as they were about to pull off, Kurt 'ported on the front of the bike and lunged at Rogue. Kitty freaked out over his sudden appearance and seeming attack and reflexively phased herself and Rogue causing Kurt to land behind them on the ground.

As the two girls rode away, Kurt shook his fist in the air.

"I have not yet begun to fight!"

Spike rolled past him on his skateboard with his hands in his pockets.

"You are one weird dude."

**

* * *

**

School went a little something like this. Rejoice that the teachers accepted the excuse note except for Maranto. He gave her Saturday detention. Jerk. Steer away awkward confrontations between Kitty and Lance. Take a nap in English class. Listen to her brain fry as she sat in geometry class. Duck and cover from Kurt. Get to next class. Repeat.

The break from that routine was a pep rally. Rogue didn't see the point of the pep rally other than a way for her to get out of class. She walked into the gym and hung back near the wall as she looked for Kurt. She spotted him in the middle row with Evan, Danni and Kitty. She smiled and waved, knowing that he wasn't allowed to use his powers at school. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Hey, Rogue!"

Her attention was pulled away from taunting her brother to Lance. He and his crew had cleared out a space in the front row. She sent Kurt and the others a salute and walked over to sit with the Brotherhood.

"Howdy, boys," she said as she stepped over the bottom row and sat on the bench between Lance and Pietro.

"Where's Wanda?"

"She didn't feel like coming to school today," Fred answered, eating a bag of chips.

"She's in one of her moods. The one when she'll hex your butt out the window if you're breathing to loud," Todd supplied as he watched a fly buzz around a jock's head.

Lance flicked him on the ear.

"Don't even think about it."

"What? I'm hungry," he whined.

"I'd rather you starve than eat a bug."

The cheerleaders came out and you know, starting cheering. Rogue paid them no attention but couldn't completely keep the yelling about 'Mighty Ducks!' or 'Hawks!' or whatever the mascot was.

"So this guy's new, right?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah. He showed up a couple of weeks before you did," Pietro answered as they watched the new principal walk up to the podium that was set up on the gym floor.

He went on to give a speech about how each one of them was talented and had wonderful gifts that he hoped they would use to achieve and blah, blah, blah. The Brotherhood found the entire thing ironic how he kept going on about special gifts.

"What d'ya say we show him just how talented his students are?" Lance grinned and leaned forward, about to cause a small quake.

Then Rogue punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What's your problem?"

"My problem? You're the one 'bout to cause an earthquake in freakin' New York! How does that seem like a good idea?"

Lance leveled a glare at her and she returned one in kind.

"Uh-oh. You're questioning his authority. That's a no-no," Pietro grinned and watched the two out of the corner of his eye.

While Lance was distracted, Todd used the opportunity to glance at the others and snag that fly.

POP POP POP boom!

Their attention was diverted to the center of the gym where what looked like glowing marbles were falling from out of the scoreboard and exploding around Principal Kelly. They were little explosions that popped around his feet but they were enough to startle him into trying to dance around them, much to the assembly's amusement. He started squawking and flailing his arms around and it looked like he was going to fall off of the back of the podium. Then he awkwardly straightened up and regained his balance as the little orbs stopped falling. Rogue looked around and saw Jean lowering her hands back into her lap.

Well, so much for not using powers at school.

Lunch was wonderful since Pietro couldn't sit still and went and got pizza. Real pizza, not the cardboard with tomato sauce and what they said was pepperoni. One way or another, they'd gotten to talking about how Mystique was Rogue's mom. They believed her, said that there was a resemblance. Go figure.

Now she drove back to the mansion with Jubilee since Kitty went to the mall with Jean. She'd learned blinding him was just as good as phasing when it came to hug repellant.

All in all, it'd been a good day. For her, anyway. She kind of almost wished that something had gone wrong. Then she'd have an excuse to call Remy. She could call him anyway and talk to him about…well, she couldn't think of anything at the moment but something would come to her. But then what would he think about some girl he'd met last night calling and rambling about her day. He wouldn't care. Though he seemed like he might. Maybe? Why should she want to call him anyway? Maybe he'd ask her out. She didn't want to go out with him. She didn't care. He was just a guy. It didn't matter at all that he had the most amazing eyes she'd ever seen. Screw that, his eyes _were _the most amazing thing she'd ever seen.

She mentally slapped herself. She sounded like a teenage girl.

_This just in: You ARE a teenage girl._

_Shut up._

_A HORMONAL teenage girl._

Rogue scowled under helmet. Stupid, traitorous emotions and collaborating psyches.

_Oh, yeah. Blame us for your issues. You know that's what you call displaced aggression_

* * *

After arrival, Rogue went into the kitchen for snack, hopefully something sweet. She pushed open the swinging door and cringed. Emma was there sitting at the long table with Ororo. She sent Rogue a cool glare, and Rogue had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. The glare didn't have the desired effect, what with the swollen lip.

"Hello, child. Did you need something?" Ororo greeted her.

"Hey. I was just coming to get some cookies or somethin'."

"There are cookies in that jar," Emma piped up, indicating the white cookie jar on the counter.

Rogue sent them a suspicious look and settled it on Emma.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing."

She glanced at Ororo, who looked between the two with a look of uncertainty.

"Miss Munroe, what's wrong with the cookies?"

"I don't know, Rogue. Why would you think that there's something wrong with them?"

"You know what? Nevermind," Rogue turned on her heel and left the kitchen and out into the hall. She might be paranoid, but she was justifiably so.

She paused a moment.

"Left or right? Ah, crap, I should write a map or something."

**

* * *

**

She made it to her room after playing Dodge-Hug and winning profoundly. They'd had to set up a few areas as safe zones, like the top of the staircases, the library, her room and the bathroom. He hadn't tried anything there; it just needed to be said. Shoes kicked off and propped up against a pile of pillows, Rogue had been finishing up her English assignment when she heard a knock on her door. She'd opened it to reveal Jamie. Apparently, Jean had told him that she'd help him with algebra but Scott surprised her with a date so she referred him to Kitty. Kitty was busy so she sent him to her and that is why he's sprawled out over her queen size bed staring at letters and numbers with intense hatred.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"If you need help with homework, I'm gonna have to charge you," Rogue called out.

Jamie looked up at her.

"Do I have to pay you?"

"Nah, you're good."

"It's Bobby. Can I use your phone?"

"Why don't you come in and quit yellin' at me through the door?"

He did. He went right over to her rolling desk chair and plopped himself down.

"Jamie, do you know you have a double downstairs playing video games?"

"What makes you think that one's the double?"

"Because he can only speak in sentences from the game. So, phone?"

"Don't you have one?" Rogue glanced up at him from the sketch she was working on. Yeah, she still had homework, but her doodles were far more important.

"Yeah, but Jubilee took it and I don't want to push my luck so soon after Operation: Ice Cups."

"Operation what? You know what, nevermind. Sounds like somethin' Wade would do. Phone's behind ya," she pointed to her desk.

Bobby spun the chair around, picked up the phone, and kept spinning. He flipped the phone open just as it was receiving an incoming call and automatically put it to his ear.

"Sorry, she's dead. Can I have her call you back?" Bobby said into the telephone.

Rogue rolled her eyes at his response as he waited a beat as the other person talked.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm messin with you. She's actually on the bed with Jamie."

Bobby planted his feet on the floor and reached for the book Rogue was supposed to be reading.

"Studying biology. Did you want to talk to her? All right, dude! Chill," he held the phone out to Rogue. "Phone for you."

She took the phone while looking over Jamie's shoulder, directing him how to solve the problem.

"Now square both sides. You do it on the left to get rid of the square root and you do it on the right 'cause what you do for one side you do for the other. Right?"

"Yeah, let's go with that."

She brushed her hair back and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Bonjour, cherie."

A smile lit up her face.

"I'm sorry. There's no 'Sherry' here. I think ya have the wrong number."

"Dat would explain why I been talkin' to some boy for de past trois minutes. Forgive moi. Thought I was callin' dis tres belle femme I met las' night."

"Oh, but which one?"

"Dis one was named Rogue."

"Well, why didn't ya say so in the first place, sugar?"

"Are ya always dis difficult?"

"Probably."

Bobby leaned back in his chair, watching Rogue's half of the conversation. It was always interesting to see how a girl's attitude changed when she gets on the phone.

"I'm not getting that phone back, am I?"

"Nope. And I'm not getting any more help with this," Jamie stated miserably.

"I'll get someone to do that for you if you let me use your phone."

Jamie didn't hesitate.

"Deal."

Jamie said a quick thanks to Rogue and left the room with Bobby.

As Rogue went on with her conversation with Remy, she absently wondered how many times she could use the 'My mom and dad want to kill each other and I can't do homework because of it' excuse.

**Much later that night**

Wade rummaged through the fridge while Logan went upstairs. They'd just gotten back. Yeah, he'd told Rogue 'afternoon' but that was susceptible to change. So here he was, in the dark of night, being forced to prepare his own food because quite frankly, he didn't think Rogue would appreciate him waking her up to do it for him.

"Let's see. Mayo and mustard. Pepperoni, bell peppers, ooh onion! Cheese and ketchup is good. Tomato, nope, not that hungry. Hmm. This turkey smells a little weird. Good thing I have a healing factor. I don't think I like chicken. Aha! Beef steak!"

As Wade prepped his sandwich, his phone vibrated. He set the phone on the counter and put it on speaker.

"This is Wade. Speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Congradulaytion! You just won five thousan dollah! If you gimme your telephone numbah and bank infomation, I send you your check for five thousan dollah!" the man with the heavy Asian accent told him.

Wade had put down his sandwich and looked at the phone like it was crazy the whole time the man had been talking.

"You're gonna send me what?"

"Your check for five thousan dollah."

"Dollah? The heck is a 'dolla'? Where do you live? Are you that guy from Karate Kid? You sound like him."

"Sir, I need you telay-phone numbah."

"You called me, dude. How do you not have my number? Are you blindfolded, Mr. Miyagi? Do they have you tied to a wall naked in Sri Lanka and are forcing you to try and scam people out of there money?"

CLICK

"Hello? You still there, Mr. Miyagi? Oh, well," he shrugged.

* * *

A/N: Wow. I've been gone from this one for almost a month.

People can fit in those overhead scoreboard things, right?

…Wait…when did the reviews hit 300? The heck, man. Did I notice before and forget? Huh.

**The ONLY important thing for this author's note**: Do y'all wanna see how Rogue's days and weeks go or just kinda do a skip over to the important days when something is gonna happen other than D.R sessions, clandestine romy meeting, making friends, and family bonding. 'Cause I'm starting to bore myself and if I'm getting bored, y'all probably are to. But that may be 'cause I know what's gonna happen(more or less with broad generalization and detailed scenes that I should really write down) and I'm just getting impatient. Who is still following my rambling?

That phone thing actually happened to my sister's coworker. They were on the job, he had it on speaker, the customers could hear it, and to hear tell, it was hilarious. That boy is crazy. The only thing I added was Mr. Miyagi. The whole day he kept saying, "You won five thousan dollah!" I wasn't there so I took some creative license but only a bit.

My, that was a busy chapter with not a lot of anything. That's just because it's the FILLER! FILLER NIGHT! AND NOTHING'S GONNA SAVE YOU FROM THE FILLER TONIGHT!


	26. AntiClimatic Dramatic Buildup

If I lose anyone during the transitions, let me know so I can make it clearer.

* * *

Logan stalked up the stairs to his room, sniffing the air along the way out of habit. He reached the top and headed for the girls' wing to check on his daughter first. Upon entering the hall, he nearly gagged on all the perfume and body spray that hung in the air. As he walked onward, he heard laughter, one from a girl, the other from a boy. Logan was in no way against laughter; it's just that at well past one in the morning on a school night, there shouldn't be any. Now blame animal instinct or over-protective father shining through, but he didn't think twice before opening the door immediately on his right.

The laughter died in their throats. The two on the bed wore similar expressions of 'Oh freakin' crap, we're in trouble' at the sight of the short man at the door.

"Uh…hi," the girl smiled nervously.

"I can explain," the young man started.

Logan leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his burly chest, settling in for a story.

"Do that."

"Vell, I vent downstairs for a after-midnight snack and Kitty was zhere, and she was upset because of her break-up so I sent her back upstairs and brought her ice cream from my stash because you can't leave the good stuff lying around where anyone can get to it and ve vere talking and eating and you came and nothing happened, I swear!" he rushed out in one breath. (1)

Logan and Kitty both stared at the blue mutant, wondering if increased lung capacity was a part of his mutation.

"Let me see if I got this right. You expect me to believe that two teenagers were just up here alone in bed-"

"On bed. On top of the bed, not under covers," Kitty corrected.

"And y'all did nothin' but talk?"

"Yes!" "Ja!"

He looked between the two for a moment then shrugged.

"Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, if you say it, it must be true."

"Are you messing vith us? Zhat is vhat it sounds like."

"'Course not. But you two got Danger Room with me tomorrow - actually _this _morning so you might want to get some sleep. In your own beds. Now."

Both teens sighed loudly and sent each other commiserating, 'Woe as me' looks. Logan just rolled his eyes. Teen dramatics. Kitty gave Kurt a hug before he 'ported to his room. After he was gone, she looked at Logan.

"Guess I'll see you at our execution later," she told him.

"Ha. You wish," Logan smirked and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

In his opinion, they got off easy. Although, they actually didn't do anything – he knew from the smell – boys weren't allowed in the girls' dorms after a certain time and vice versa. There's a reason for that, in a house full of hormonal teenagers.

Across the hall from Kitty was Rogue's room, and Logan didn't even bother to knock. As expected, Rogue was in her bed. Unexpectedly, she was sitting up with a book illuminated by the lamp from her bed side table. For some reason, she had glasses on –the fashion kind – and looked up at him from over them. She closed the book and straightened up against her headboard imperiously.

"Do you realize what time it is, old man?"

He quirked a brow, amused.

"Ya do know I'm the parent in this relationship, right? I can come home whenever I damn well please."

She pointed a finger at him.

"Watch your language. Besides, like you always used to say: act like a child, I treat you like a child. Remember?"

He merely grunted, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to her. He plucked the book out of her hands and read the title. '_House._' He flipped it over and read the back. 'House Rules:

1. God came to my house and I killed him.

2. I will kill anyone who comes into my house as I killed God.

3. Give me one dead body, and I might let rule two slide.

You have until dawn.'

"What in the world are you reading?"

"Don't change the subject," she snatched the book from him. "Besides, it's a really good book. We were talkin' about your attitude."

"Were we?"

"Yes, specifically how you act with Mama."

"Ugh. That woman gets under my skin."

"I know she does. I know you two don't like each other and your first instinct is to rip her apart or whatever. And you know if I wasn't your kid I wouldn't care. But I am yours and hers so you can't do that! Especially when I'm right there. In my room. And ignoring me has got to stop. Do you see my point here?"

"You want me to not attack Raven when you can see it, but when you're not around, it's open season."

"That is not what I said. And do you really think it's okay to beat your wife?"

"She started it; she can take it."

"I swear, it's like dealin' with a bratty kid," Rogue muttered.

"You're probably just rememberin' yourself as a child."

"You're not a funny clown."

"I really wish you'd stop sayin' that, Stripes."

"Fine. I'm gonna go see her."

He didn't say anything for a long moment so Rogue took that as a sign to keep talking.

"Yeah, we're goin' out to eat after school. You're okay with that, right?"

"I'm not gonna show up and tear the place apart, if that's what you're askin'. She is your mother. If you want to see her, I can't really tell you no 'cause you'll just find some way around it and do what you want anyway."

"Wow. You know me so well, old man," she grinned at him.

Logan returned it and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her forward and kissed her hair.

"Sleep now, brat," he commanded, standing from the bed.

"Yes, sir," she reached to her side to turn off the lamp and set the book on the stand.

"Why do you only call me 'sir' when there's no one else around to hear it?"

"Sshh," Rogue was on her side with her eyes closed. "I'm sleepin'."

"There's somethin' wrong with you," he chuckled and went out the door, headed to his own room.

On the way, he met up with Wade.

"You won five thousan dollah!"

Logan barely glanced at him as Wade fell in step with him.

"How's our girl?"

"Good. She's hanging out with Raven tomorrow."

"Seriously? And you're okay with it?"

"You really think you can stop either one of them from doin' somethin' if they really want to?"

"Well, it's possible. Painful because they hit really hard, embarrassing because you're whining about being hit by a girl and really not worth it in the end because they win, but possible."

"As long as Raven doesn't try anything, I don't need to get involved."

"Try anything how? You think she'll take Rogue away?"

"Maybe."

"But…wouldn't that be Rogue's choice? She's eighteen."

"Yeah. It would."

**

* * *

**

Throughout the next few weeks, Rogue's life fell into a routine that mostly consisted of school, training, and hanging out. The only one she really liked was the hanging out, though only with certain people. Sometimes, she'd sit around the mansion with the other kids, play mutant ball, video games, Dodge Hug. The Dodge Hug had been put on hold for the sake of the Water Wars. Let it be said: Darkholmes plus Wade Rule. Bow Down.

She simply wasn't allowed to keep to herself in a house full of people. Betsy, Jean, and Kitty had even forced her to go to the mall. She, in turn, had forced a kicking and screaming Wade to come too, and made sure that everyone knew to keep him away from caffeine.

On other occasions, she went out with the Brotherhood crew. It wasn't that they were more her type of crowd than the kids at the Institute; it was more that Lance made an excellent hustle partner. Pietro was a shameless flirt, but he was funny, never serious. She appreciated that he did it, considering he knew about her mutation. In his sister, she finally had someone she could talk books with. It was a welcome surprise when she'd found out about Wanda's collection of Ted Dekker books.

Fred and Todd were a couple of sweethearts, though a little rough (sometimes gross) around the edges. Todd was an artist. He had tons of pages of sketches, mostly of Wanda, quite a few of the X Men in various stages of defeat. Fred was trying to make her fall in love with him, she was sure. That saying 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' doesn't only apply to men. If left to her own devices, Rogue would starve; she was terrible in the kitchen and knew it. That had brought about a love of anyone who could cook and feed her. He'd even tried to teach her once. He'd very nicely asked her out of the kitchen and not to touch his stove anymore.

She'd gone out quite a bit with her mother. They'd go to cafes, shopping, the gun range, and maybe once or twice, a bar. All of Rogue's drinks were, of course, virgin. She'd missed having a mother. One rule: do not talk about Logan. Don't even think about him in her presence.

As usual, she helped her father with maintaining the vehicles. Over the years, he'd taught her everything he knew about cars, trucks, bikes ATVs, all of it. As it happened, Scott's car pulled to the right once it topped one-forty. During that time, she didn't speak of her mother or what they did. Unspoken rule.

Almost every other day, she'd meet up with Remy. They didn't burn down any more buildings but had just as much fun at a jazz club. The service was much better there and the music was great.

She was officially in like with him. When she told him about her powers, how she couldn't touch, he'd done something amazing. He told her he didn't care. That he liked her for her as cliché as that was. Then he'd pulled her out of her seat and made her dance with him. She could have gotten away if she wanted, but that would cause a scene. So instead, she just went along with it and let him lead.

When they didn't see each other, they talked on the phone or texted. If Wade or Logan suspected anything, they didn't show it. Maybe they were giving her a bit more freedom, but she didn't want to risk Remy just to find out though. She liked to think that they'd eased up a bit over the years; she was sure it was because they were more distracted with being X Men.

They'd gone on a few missions already without her. She hadn't minded too much since they gave her free time with Remy. As it was, Logan was gone with the professor and Hank. Something had happened with the professor's brother, she wasn't sure. It had to do with a tank and magnets…maybe.

Anyway, that left Ororo, Betsy, Warren, and Wade in charge. Emma was there too, but the professor knew better than to give that woman any kind of kids had been talking about throwing a wild party what with it being a weekend and that's what you did in the movies, but no one could think of a way to get rid of the rest of the adults that didn't include bodily harm. Rogue could care less as she already had plans. With Remy, actually. That was the reason she was why she was currently going over her wardrobe, looking for something she hadn't worn. It was so stupid how she had a closetful of clothes and nothing to wear. Some small part of her brain registered that she sounded as bad as Kitty and shuddered with horror.

Honestly, she usually couldn't care less what she wore as long as it covered her and wasn't pink. But lately, all because of the Swamp Rat, she actively paid attention. She wanted to look nice for him. However, she couldn't do that because it seemed like she'd worn every single piece of clothing in front of Remy and it was pissing her off! Of course, she was probably just dramatizing the situation. She briefly considered getting Kitty, but then remembered she'd gone out with Kurt. It wasn't a date though. Of course not.

She could get Betsy, but then she would ask why she was worried about it, then she'd have to lie because there was no way she was taking the chance with anyone knowing about Remy. He was no good to her dead, after all.

Just as she was considering closing her eyes and going with 'Eenie-Miney-Mo', her phone started playing Remy's ring tone, a bluesy saxophone solo. She turned around to face her room.

"Oh, crap."

Almost every surface was covered in clothes and her phone wasn't at all visible. She made her way to her desk, where she usually kept it. Not there. It sounded like it was around here…somewhere. Dropping to her knees, she found it under her desk next to a knife and a shoe she swore she'd never seen before after she dug through a pile of clothes.

"Hello."

"Bonjour, amourex. Don't hate me, sil vous plait."

"Why? What did you do?"

"I swear it's not my fault. Okay, so de old man I work for? De fool got me doin' a job t'night."

"What? The nerve of your boss makin' your work! Wait. Are you cancelin' on me?"

"Non. Not cancelin', chere, reschedulin'. We can go out demain nuit."

"I have plans tomorrow."

"All day?"

"Uh-huh."

"Really?" he asked, skepticism clear in his voice.

"Yup. All day. Really busy. Doin'…stuff."

"Ya mad at me."

"No. Why would I be mad at you?" as she asked this, she scowled at the clothes _all over her room._

"Besides, you've been gettin' on my nerves lately. I could use a break from your clinginess."

"My clinginess? If I recall correct, chere, last time, your hands were all over me."

"Well, your recall is screwy. My hands were around your waist and that is because you were playin' chicken with a Mack truck, you psycho."

"If I'm da psycho, what's dat say 'bout you since ya always wit' me?"

"It says that I pity you and have hopes to reform you. Make you normal."

"Ugh, I'd be so boring normal, chere."

"Oh, yeah, you would, huh? I'd completely want nothing to do with you."

"Hey, Rogue, do you –" Tabby had come through the door and stopped mid-sentence when she saw Rogue's room, rather Rogue's clothes. "Did you lose a fight with the closet?"

"Hold on," she said to Remy. "What's up?"

"What? Oh, right. Me, 'Mara, Kitty, and Jubes are going out. A girl's night. Wanna come? Hey, cute top," she picked up a shimmery, pink shirt that Pepper had sent her that still had the tag on it.

"Keep it."

That's right. She gave away a gift, never worn, instead of wearing it and pretending to like it, effectively lying, as you are expected to do to be polite. No. It was pink.

"Cool," she slung the shirt over her shoulder.

"Where're we goin'?"

"Oh, just out and around. Crash Duncan's party. Seniors only party, he says."

"So basically you're invitin' me to go ruin a party because you weren't invited?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm in."

"Great. We're leavin' in three hours. Ooh, can I borrow these shoes?" Tabby held a pair of green stilettos up for inspection.

"To borrow?" she emphasized. "Yes, but I want them back. Got it?"

"Got 'em. Later."

After she was gone, Rogue resumed her conversation with Remy.

"It's just as well that you're canceling. I completely forgot I had plans tonight."

"I just heard you make dem."

"Your point? Now stop talkin' to me so I can get ready."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't 'ma'am' me, boy."

"Oui, bebe."

"Oh, hush."

"…"

"Remy?"

"Hm?"

"Are you not talkin' 'cause I told you to?"

"…"

She rolled her eyes at his antics.

"Bye, Remy."

"Later, Roguey."

He hung up before she could protest the nickname. Rogue was about to toss it on her bed before she glanced at it. Well, the clothes covering it.

"Damn."

**

* * *

**

Even after she accepted the invitation, she'd still been reluctant to actually go. Blame it on her introverted ways. When the girls came to collect her, she'd tried to back out, claiming she needed to clean her room. They'd all given each other these looks and Rogue knew she lost.

Fifteen minutes later, Rogue was getting the keys to Wade's black Dodge Challenger from him with promises to fill the tank and be back before tomorrow.

Six hours later, they arrived home five minutes until midnight. They stumbled inside, staggering and giggling, not because of the alcohol that was at the party, though they had lost Tabby for fifteen minutes, but from that girl high that happens late at night when air is funny. Storm had found them and was about to lecture them about curfews and such when Wade went sliding through the foyer on one of the rugs. When he was out of sight, they heard a thud, a crash, and "I'm okay!" Ororo sighed, shook her head, and just sent them off to bed.

After they were up the stairs and out of ear shot, Jubilee giggled,

"Saved by the Wade."

Then they all started laughing hysterically. No, it wasn't that funny, but what did I say about girl high?

* * *

A/N: Tell the truth. Who thought that was Rogue and Remy that got caught in the beginning?

Translations:

Amourex: sweetheart

Chere: dear (as if I have to tell y'all that one)

Demain: tomorrow

Nuit: night

I split this into two because he was nearing the six thousand word mark and beginning to seem ramblish. I swear that the next one will be the Big Entrance. It's already done mostly, I just need to write the conclusion.

(1)I do that a lot, just ramble off stuff in one breath and forget to breath and then I have to say it again 'cause no one knows what I just said.

Ah, bugger! I lost my notebook! Yeah, I have the jump drive, but the notebook had all of these neat ideas and…oh, crap…it had The Scene! It had the Amsterdam scene! –Insert various curse words here- Now, I'm sad Make me happy with reviews!


	27. Huge Letdown

**Sharky237**(It's actually not awesome. It's stupidity on my part.)**, mymagicalexistence14**(Sorry about the headache and the yard sale. Poor child)**, Kii**(Gotcha! Thanks so much!)**, dude**(yeah, it is. It's by Ted Dekker and Frank Perreti. He has a load of other stuff and it's all good. Be prepared to stay up very late at night and freak out. Do NOT get the movie. It sucked.)

Thanks everybody!

Oh, and I found my notebook. It was in the last place I looked.

* * *

Ororo was a nag. She was a gorgeous nag though so Wade just stared at her, not comprehending a word she was saying. There might have been something about vests or vases and expensive rugs. Why was she talking about wigs? Maybe she wanted to get one for the wheel chair guy.

That was hours ago, but that would explain why he was having a dream about flying on a carpet and killing flying toupees with his katana.

Suddenly, he bolted upright in bed and turned on his bedside lamp.

"Something is not right," he said, holding onto a Desert Eagle handgun.

Indeed, something wasn't. Downstairs, an intruder crept silently through the halls, swiftly but calmly making his way to the elevator in order to reach the sublevels. The elevator opened, and he stepped out, following the corridors to a door that was marked by a large metallic X. Using a device that he pulled out of his trench coat, he was able to force the doors open. Inside, a huge computer was the focal point of the room. He walked up to it and pulled a small storage device out of a pocket. He plugged it into a slot, typed in a code to bypass its defenses and waited impatiently for it to download. Pictures and documents flitted across the screen, and he pressed a button to pause it on one particular picture. He stared at it, other profiles connected to it branching off to the side, looking for a name to the face on the file.

_Name: Anna Marie Howlett_

_Codename: Rogue_

It went on to give other information that he skimmed over quickly, and decided to look over that later, he let the download finish. When it was done, he replaced the device back into its secure pocket, made sure everything was as it was, and turned to go. Just as he got out the doors, he heard a gun click and felt metal press against the back of his head.

"Oh, goody. An intruder. I was getting so bored around here."

"Well, let's keep dis excitin' den."

He raised his hands level to his head, but was holding several cards. Wade looked at them and wondered if this guy was as crazy as him. They started to glow, and something told Wade that couldn't be good.

The resulting explosion rocked the entire mansion and woke everyone upstairs. Most everyone ran out of their rooms, and the teachers had a time of it keeping them from panicking. Rogue sat up, looked blearily around her room, made sure her gun was under her pillow, and laid back down to sleep.

Back downstairs, Gambit was running from Wade who was firing at him as he chased him. Fortunately for him, Wade was not, in fact, a perfect shot. The blade work was more his thing. However, it's hard to slice someone into pieces if they're running away.

Gambit turned the corner that led back to the elevator and nearly slid into the wall. He started off again just as he heard the bullets hit the wall behind him. Now covered by the corner, he thought fast. Slamming into the doors, he pressed the button repeatedly. The doors opened, the idea appeared, and he smirked.

Wade tore around the corner moments later, but the thief wasn't it insight. He assumed that he'd taken the elevator to get upstairs and catch his breath, but saw that it hadn't started moving yet. He sprinted to it and pressed the button to summon the elevator. It opened almost immediately. Wade already had his guns trained to shoot but there was no one in it. However, on the floor, there were at least a dozen magenta glowing cards.

"Oh, shi-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

Gambit had to grip the rail when the explosion rocked the mansion before he regained his balance and kept running. Just at the door, he extended his emphatic senses to check for anyone outside the door. Though it told him no one was there, he still cautiously opened the door, checking with his own eyes before he emerged fully into the hall. With his mission complete, he was only concerned with getting out since not being detected had been blown straight to he-

The smell of burnt skin and hair filled the air as he felt cool steel pressed to his throat. Turning his head just so, he looked at the now very singed and more than a little pissed Wade.

"Boo."

* * *

When the second explosion went off, Rogue fell out of bed. More than a little unhappy and decidedly more awake than she wanted to be at the moment, she uttered curses as she fumbled to detangle her sheets from her legs. Now that she was fully conscious, she heard the pounding of feet and doors slamming and got just a little bit angrier. She finally managed to free herself and stand up but hit her knee on her bed side table while she looked blindly for the lamp. She fell back on the bed, cursing the table and whoever made them so hard.

She looked over at the table and saw red. Quite literally. The big red numbers on her clock read very clearly two fifteen A.M. She continued to stare at it for a moment before she fully gave herself over to being pissed off at the world generally, at clocks, at noise, at the fact she wasn't sleep.

Rogue got out of bed, put on her deep purple robe over her green boy shorts and black sleeveless shirt and tying it in the front, and picked up a Beretta hand gun from under her pillow, not a bat. A bat was for when you were going to kill your ex-boyfriend's sports car, not for confrontations at two-flippin'-fifteen at morning. She also didn't bother getting her gloves because she figured she was going to have to hurt someone. She briefly considered getting a knife or sword, but discarded that idea. It took way too much energy to stab someone.

Honestly, what was wrong with these people? Didn't they know she needed to sleep? You can be up and awake all you want, just don't interrupt her. Her dreams, or night-memories, or whatever you called them did a fine job of that! Quite frankly, she was getting awful sick of reliving World War II and seeing Ronny get his legs blown off and waking up with a pounding headache right where she dreamed she'd been shot at. As for Wade's, well, it was no wonder he was insane. Comparatively, everyone else's was a walk in the park at spring time, but still promised fitful, if any sleep.

She stomped around her bed through the path she'd made in the clothes and slammed her door open, probably putting a hole in the wall. As she went down the hall to the source of the noise that was now a low buzz of conversation, she didn't notice that all of the doors were open and no one was inside.

Through the halls, down the stairs, and right, she came to the doors of the rec. room. Seriously? What were they doing, having another DDR tournament? Whatever it was, they were going to have to be a lot quieter.

* * *

Wade was nothing if not dramatic. That is why he waited until there was a lull in the kids' panic right after one of them asked what was going on before he marched the thief restrained at the arms with duct tape at sword point through the foyer below them and gave them a jaunty wave, intending to keep walking until he was stopped.

Of course they did. They'd started questioning him and they'd all ended up in the rec. room. He'd sent one of the kids for another roll of duct tape, sat his prisoner down, and wound it around him and the chair. He told them what happened, quick to explain that the explosions were not him testing out another one of Forge's inventions.

Satisfied with his answers they turned to questioning their intruder. During the time that Wade had been talking, half of the girls were torn between drooling at Wade, whose shirt was completely obliterated in the explosion revealing a toned body they had no idea about, and ogling the mystery guy. However, if the mystery guy had been shirtless, then all eyes would be on him.

The adults went with the standard questions: 'Who are you?' 'What are you doing here?' blah blah blah.

Wade paid him half of his attention, positive of the fact that the kid - Wade felt that he could call _anyone _'kid' whether they were or not - didn't work for Weapon X which was the one of the reasons he was still alive. The other was that he'd get blamed for the explosions, and he didn't like getting blamed for something he actually didn't do. Now bored, he started picking the scabs, dead skin, and shrapnel off of himself while the amateurs 'interrogated' the guy. Didn't they know that they were supposed to start off with slamming his head against the table?

He didn't answer any of them, just stared at them with a bored expression. Betsy got the idea to read his mind, but frowned when all she couldn't even sense him. Emma and Jean joined with her to try and get through but all they encountered was static.

"It would seem he's immune to telepathy," Emma stated.

Then the guy spoke. In French.

"Evidemment, espèce de niaise blondes," annoyance was clear in his tone despite the language he used.

At that moment, Wade immediately remembered who he was. He paused in pulling out the jagged piece of metal in his shoulder and glared up at the boy. As if he sensed the sudden hostility, Remy looked over at him. Wade could see that he knew that he knew who he was. Good. He liked for people to know who they were screwing with before they died.

With barely a twitch for warning, Wade was slashing through the air where his head had been a moment before Remy tipped his chair over. Wasn't he a clever dead man? The next instant, Jean and Betsy were restraining him with all she had while he fought against her hold, cursing all telekinetics to just drop dead.

He didn't get what the problem was. He wasn't gonna hurt the son of a diseased ridden she-ass, just kill him. It didn't _have_ to be painful unless he wanted it to be; and he didn't. He just wanted him dead.

Everyone started talking and yelling at once. With all the noise they were making, none of them heard Rogue come in.

From where she was at the back of the crowd, she couldn't see Wade or the intruder. Since everyone was preoccupied, she did the first thing that popped into her head to get their attention. She fired two quick shots into the ceiling, effectively shutting everyone up and becoming the center of attention.

"Just who does a girl have to kill to get some sleep 'round here?" Rogue stood there, death glare full-on.

Wade thought, 'Oh, craaaaap.'

"Rogue, love, calm down," Betsy tried to soothe her.

"Don't tell her that!" Wade hissed.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Rogue yelled at the assemblage that backed up and spread apart as she advanced on them. "I was totally calm when I was sleepin' before y'all started to start settin' off fireworks or whatever like a bunch of fools! I mean, what is wrong with you people? Do you realize what time it is? Do you not sleep? And why the hell is Remy duct taped to a freakin' chair?"

The glare that Rogue had been sweeping the entire room with narrowed in on Remy who offered her a nervous smile that to everyone else looked like a cocky smirk and a sort of shrug.

No one said anything for a few moments after her tirade. Then one brave, or stupid, fool in the middle of the crowd asked,

"How do you know his name?"

"Uh, what?" The question threw her for a second as she'd been focused on burning a hole through Remy's head by sheer force of will.

"Yes, Rogue," Emma gave her a smug look that sent off every mental red flag in her head. "Do tell us just how you know this thief."

Her psyches collectively agreed on one thing and voiced it: _LIE!_

Commence with the backpedaling.

"What? No, he – I – No! I just said 'Remy' 'cause he's like the rat. Jamie, you know that movie with the rat and he cooks?"

"Ratatouille?"

"Yeah! That one. And he's a rat and rats are thieves which is what he is and his name is Remy."

"That actually makes sense, but no," Ray shook his head.

"It was a good try," Jubilee gave her a sympathetic look and Amara nodded with her.

"Guys," Wade called to get their attention. Even throughout all of that, Jean and Betsy still had him completely. He was slightly impressed. Still wanted them to die at that moment, but they'd earn a miniscule amount his grudging respect.

"Well, this oughta be good," Roberto settled down on the couch next to Rahne to watch.

"Oh, guys."

"It's no big deal, really," Rogue assured them, trying to think of a way to divert their attention.

"HEY, GUYS!"

"WHAT, WADE?" they all turned to him to yell while Rogue scooted back towards the door.

"The bastard just jumped out the window."

Everyone looked to the chair to make sure he was telling the truth. Sure enough, the tipped chair was empty with thick bands of duct tape still stuck to it. In her shock, Jean released Wade who managed to break free of Betsy's hold and wasted no time in running and diving out of the open window after Gambit. The group ran to the other windows to watch. Not much could be clearly seen except the occasional flash of gunfire and a magenta glow followed by explosions. This continued until they reached the fence and the thief somehow managed to vault clear over it. Wade ran and jumped, making it more than halfway up, pulled himself over, and chased after Remy. They continued to watch long after the explosions and gunfire stopped.

"Well, Rogue," Ororo said still facing the window. "I think you have –"

She stopped talking when she turned fully around and didn't see Rogue in the room. Amidst all of the chatter coming from the students, she could barely hear herself think. For several minutes, Ororo tried to bring order to the chaos. Two gunshots rang out behind her and everyone ducked. She turned to see Wade with his gun still in the air, grinning like the mad man he was.

"You're welcome," he told her.

She opened her mouth to say something against his using the gun in the house, but instead said,

"Thank you."

Over the initial surprise, the students started talking again.

"Did you get him?"

"Is he dead?"

"What did he steal?"

"Was that Rogue's boyfriend?"

"How did Rogue know him?"

"What was he doing here?"

"Does anyone have his number?"

"Is he single?"

Everyone looked at Amara and Tabby who looked back at them.

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"I think we need to separate those two," Warren said.

"Enough," Betsy said. "All of you need to get back in bed. We'll deal with the damage and explain everything in the morning."

"But Betsy," Roberto started to whine.

"Or," Wade cut in, "You could all have a D.R session with me. And the clowns."

There was a mass exodus out of the room. The students simply could not get out fast enough. Within five minutes, all was silent in the house.

Betsy collapsed onto the couch and pulled Warren down next to her, snuggling into his side; Ororo settled herself onto the edge of the coffee table in front of them; Wade righted the tipped chair and folded himself into it, his legs hanging over the armrest; and Emma sat down in the chair opposite the couch.

"Okay," Warren said. "What just happened?"

"I…don't really know," Betsy answered.

"Charles is going to love this," Emma said with an amused tone as she examined the holes in the ceiling.

"Wade," Ororo addressed him, "What exactly happened?"

Wade had been holding his katana, looking over it for any spots of blood he'd missed. Wiping it off on his pants, he pulled the case off of his back and sheathed his sword, laying it down at his side.

"Long version or short version? Personally, I prefer the long. Basically because I just like to talk and sometimes, I get sick of talking to myself."

"Please, Mr. Wilson."

All eyes turned towards the door way to see a grave Professor Xavier and Hank McCoy. Logan, Wade assumed, was probably out sniffing around, having already detected the smell of gunpowder and an intruder.

"Leave out no details."

* * *

A/N:Well, there it is. What would have been the BIG ENTRANCE, the intro of Remy into this story. I think it is better that I introduced him earlier because now there's a bit more back story to him and Rogue that will make what I'm going to do more…something, I can't find the word. Real might be it. Substantial?

Did anyone get the Madeline reference?

Translation:

Évidemment, vous blonde niais: Obviously, you blonde simpleton (synonyms include:

birdbrain, blockhead, bonehead, boob, buffoon, clod, clown, dimwit, dolt*, dope*, dunce, dunderhead, fathead, idiot, ignoramus, imbecile, jerk*, lamebrain, lunkhead, moron, nitwit, numskull, oaf, stooge)

If you don't know how Wade knows Remy, go read Adventures in Disney.

I have a friend who does something similar to what Rogue did minus the gun. It's hilarious. If she had a gun, she'd probably do that and freak her family out even more.

Ha, I just thought of something really stupid from my childhood. "Circle, circle, dot, dot. I just got my cootie shot. I think that boy is hot. I think I'd rather not." Oh, so funny. Man, I miss my brother.

Next Time: Wade's version of the story, Rogue's reaction, a talk with the family, and the beginnings of an actual mabye honest to goodness plot! (That word's still funny to me.)


	28. Could Have Been Worse

**Mydarkreply:** Thanks so much for all your reviews.

That goes for you other people too. Don't be technical.

For five – probably two, maybe three – minutes, I lost my jump drive. I almost had a panic attack. It was terrifying. I screamed, ate a brownie, and searched. I found it. Yay! It was like Christmas! Enough rambling of nonsense –**what is this story if not nonsense –**_That's deep _-, on with the story. I think Wade's influencing me way too much. - **She says that like it's a bad thing.** _Please, even _I _think that's bad._

"And then, the cards exploded! I will never play poker the same way again, let me tell ya! Anyway, he takes off and I'm chasing him, right? But I'm a suck shot though I'm pretty sure I hit him but he had on some kind of armor. I mean real armor, not the flimsy stuff that just looks good. Around the corner he goes and then I don't see him. By the time I make it around, I'm assuming he's in the elevator, I open it up, and oh, joy! He left more of those stupid cards there. I get blown way back, and by the by, Prof., that elevator is pretty well dead. Using my handy-dandy teleporty belt buckle thing-a-ma-jig, I make it upstairs."

"You said that thing was broke," Logan cut in.

"It was. Now it isn't. Sometimes… Mostly… I might have left a piece of my kidney somewhere, but hey, you only really need one, and I think it's mostly intact. Don't interrupt me. Do I interrupt you while you talk?"

"You interrupt my life."

"At Rogue's insistence. Where was I?"

"Upstairs," Betsy supplied.

The adults were all in the rec. room now. Logan had come in through the window, announcing that the guy was long gone. He'd offered to go after him, but the professor was against it. Instead, he'd leaned against the wall near the window as Wade told his tale.

"Right. So I'm singed, I'm bruised, I'm pissed. I was this close to cutting off his head, but then you know, I'd probably have to clean it and blood is a pain to clean up so I just surprised and duct taped him."

"You duct taped him?" Hank repeated, not quite sure of what he said.

"Yup. Duct tape. It holds the universe together," at that, Wade took a moment to stare dramatically out the window into the sky.

The others glanced at each other while he was doing this except for Logan. He was glaring at him and counted to ten before he hurt him. Luckily for Wade, he snapped out of it and continued his rambling.

"So I get him all gussied up, and parade him through the foyer when they spot me, and they're all 'OMG! What's going on?'. I give them the short version, we all crowd in here, we schmooze, we talk, we have some laughs. Then the guy, Remy, has to go and open his mouth. As soon as he calls Emma a 'blond simpleton', I knew he was that guy from Disney Land. Logan, you remember the one you didn't want to know about? He's the reason you don't want to know about it."

"What happened? Did he hurt Rogue?" Logan looked ready to rip heads off at that moment. Wade would be all for that except the guy who needed his head ripped off was down the road somewhere and Wade was the next logical target.

"No, not hurt, per se. More like…what's the word I'm looking for here. Okay, it's like the 'boys have cooties' stage. He got her to thinking that boys don't have cooties."

Everyone just kinda _stared_ at Wade, waiting for more of an explanation, before Storm said.

"Oh."

Then everyone looked at her.

"Oh what?" Warren asked.

Realization dawned on Betsy.

"It means, love, that Rogue figured out that boys have more uses than beating them up on the playground."

"You're messin' with me," Logan accused Wade.

"No, man, I swear I'm not. I was as shocked as you are now. I was so shocked I couldn't even think to kill him then 'til like way later."

"You can't kill every boy Rogue becomes infatuated with," Charles said.

"Watch me," Logan and Wade replied at the same time.

"Back to story! Now, this time, I tried to finish him, really I did. But this one," he pointed to Betsy, "and Jeannie went all Jedi mind-trip 'move you cannot' on me. Next thing I know, Rogue is woke and very, very upset about being awake with a gun and while she's yellin', she says Remy's name and gives him this look. And dude, she gave him this _look. _I thought she was gonna melt a hole in his head, it was that intense. Logan, remind me later. Then they're all 'How do you know him?' and she's all 'What? Whatchu mean?' and they're all 'You know what we mean.' While they're doing that, Bastard Boy did something to the tape like what he did to the cards but it didn't blow him up and goes out the window. I get their attention to that, they finally drop me, I go after him again with actual killing intent, but he's actually really good. Kept throwing those cards at me and stuff. You guys are gonna need a landscaper to fill in the holes probably. Unless you like the 'crater' look. Plus he's got this staff. My swords couldn't cut it. It's either adamantium or something stronger. He uses that thing to get over the fence. Let me tell you, this guy has some serious training."

"How serious?" Logan demands.

"Not as serious as our old gang. Though he could give them a run for their money. But yeah, swings over the fence and runs off in the woods. When I get over, he's already on this bike and riding off. I'm firing at him but again, I don't know if I hit him. I 'port back up in here, the kids are goin' crazy, so I help 'Ro send them off to bed and that's basically when you guys showed up. Crazy how that timing works, eh?"

**

* * *

**

Upstairs, Rogue was standing out on her balcony with her gun scope clutched in her hand. From there, she'd watched her uncle fight with her boyfriend, nearly killing each other. She'd also seen the Blackbird land, and a few minutes later, her father sniffing around the grounds. He had gone inside since then. She was sure her family would come up here and talk to her after they finished downstairs. At the moment, however, she was just trying to figure how she was feeling right now.

Anger, confusion, and dread were pretty high up there. She was angry at Remy for leaving out some pretty important stuff, lying to her, breaking into her home, attacking her family and apparently stealing something from the professor. There was a small amount of anger reserved for herself for being so easily fooled by him.

That thought brought her to confusion. Had he been planning this from the beginning? Did he know the whole time who she was? Was she a mark the entire time? Did he even have a boss? Why was she hoping there was a logical explanation, and she'd still be able to go out with him later?

However, dread settled itself in the pit of her stomach threatened to override all of that. She was going to have to talk to her dad. He was going to be upset for sure. She was not going to get off easy, she knew, for several reasons. For one thing, she didn't tell them about Remy in the first place. It was basically tradition for them to threaten her boyfriends with bodily and psychological harm. She'd already worked on the logic that he wasn't her boyfriend, technically. He was just a boy – man and more than a just – that she hung out with occasionally – a lot, frequently.

Yeah. That's what she'd start with. Then she'd go with the 'I'm eighteen' shpeel, see how that worked. Maybe she could distract Wade and get Logan annoyed with him. It was possible, about as likely as the professor getting his hair back, but possible. There were surgeries now.

BAMF

"I'm out here," she called over her shoulder.

Kurt cautiously stepped out onto her balcony and joined her at the rail.

"Soo…zhat vas pretty crazy, huh?"

"Which part?"

"Ha, yeah."

They lapsed into silence, she because she was still working on the details of her plan, he because he was trying to broach this without upsetting her.

"Um, are you all right? You vere really upset earlier and it seemed like you knew zhat guy and zhen all of…zhat happened and you disappeared and I vasn't sure if I should bother you because I didn't want to aggravate you more but I wanted to see if you were okay. We're family so we should do zhat, right?"

Rogue was used to his long, breathless ramblings but it still took her some time to respond. Was she all right? She wasn't physically hurt; her friends and family were safe.

"Yeah, we should. I'm fine, Kurt. Thanks for being a good little brother to me," she smiled at him, mostly forced for his benefit.

"Anytime," he returned her grin and moved toward her.

She recognized this as the beginnings of a hug and held out her bare hands as warning.

"Don't even think about it."

"Oh, come on! Do it for me. So I know I am not a failure as a brother."

"Good try. You ain't gonna win. Now get outta my room. I got plottin' to do."

"Ve're not in your room."

"Git!"

"Nyah, nyah," he stuck his tongue out at her and

BAMF

Teleported away before she could hit him.

She waved a hand to dispel the cloud he'd left behind. Honestly, he was a good kid, a real sweetheart. It would have been really great if she'd had him around when she was younger. A little brother would have been useful when she first met Tony. She chuckled at the memory of their first meeting and all the crazy they'd gotten into. On second thought, another kid probably would have tipped the scale into an area that did not need to be ventured.

What was she thinking about? Oh, yeah. Operation: Avoid and Evade.

Her plans were cut short when the objects of her evasion tactics walked in. Logan came directly out to the balcony with her at the rail on her left. He turned to her and gave her a solid look that said 'I am not taking anymore crap today.' Wade walked out and hopped up on the rail to her right.

"Explain this," his voice was a low, growling command. That tone was the one Rogue automatically recognized as 'Daddy-Logan is two inches from Mad Daddy-Wolverine' and knew not to push him the extra couple inches.

Which is why she responded with a sigh and,

"Which part?"

* * *

She told him about Remy starting from Disney Land conveniently neglecting to include the kiss. Wade grunted but didn't comment on it. She told them how she met him again at the bar that day and how they ended up at dinner. They didn't need to know about the fire; it was completely irrelevant, although she was sure Wade would approve of wanton destruction. She told them that they went out some times.

"Some times is what?" Logan ordered.

"After school. Lunch, maybe."

He seemed satisfied with that answer and let her continue.

In the end, she was grounded. No bike, no cell phone, no TV, no computer, one-on-one training with him on top of the sessions she already had. Then he asked her what else she thought was fun.

"Chores."

"Nice try."

No library. She stared at him with horror. Even Wade looked at him funny.

"What kind of monster are you?"

One book a day. Gun privileges were revoked. The last two really hit.

"How long?"

"'Til I get tired of seein' you walk around pouting."

"That's fair I suppose," she nodded. "I wasn't honest to y'all and I'm sorry."

Logan gave her a skeptical look before he turned to walk back inside.

"Go to bed. You have training early tomorrow."

After he'd gone, Rogue glanced at Wade and went back in. He followed her, shutting and locking the door.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just try to reverse psychology him?"

He turned to see Rogue smile hopefully.

"Think it will work?"

"Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie to you?"

"Surprise me."

"You'll be off the hook by tomorrow!"

**

* * *

**

She was so not off the hook. Reverse psychology was a major fail. Logan woke her up four hours later, herded her outside, and nearly killed her. Not really, but her aching muscles were trying to convince her of it. She muttered a few choice words about sadistic, degenerate, abusive adults. He literally kicked her butt. It wasn't a hard kick, but she was bruised from that fall earlier and she learned to keep her ill words mentally spoken only. She was pretty sure Jean had been mind-eavesdropping on her because she flushed as red as her hair when Rogue went by. She'd take care of the invasion of property later.

Now she was on the floor beside her bed, having missed it earlier, knowing she should shower before the sweat dried and got really gross. For some reason, the floor was extremely comfortable. She'd get up in a minute. She drifted off.

Voices that weren't coming from her head woke her.

"Is she dead?"

"Tabby, don't be silly."

"She looks like Kitty does when she breaks up when Lance."

"Kit's more of a sobbing-mess-after-ice-cream-binging-rant-the- pass-out girl. I think she just passed out."

"I would have pegged her as a bit more violent."

"I'm 'bout to get violent if y'all don't have a good reason for bein' in here," her arm had been over her eyes, but she sat up with a groan and glared up at the trio of girls: Betsy, Tabby, and Amara. She didn't intentionally glare; that was just her face when she was awakened by things that should not be. Like people conversing in her room. And about her too.

"We just came to check on you, love," Betsy sank to her knees and put a hand that was meant to be comforting on Rogue's shoulder.

"Ya mean that ya came to get the gossip straight from the source," Rogue corrected, shrugging Betsy's hand off.

She usually wouldn't have been so blunt. Betsy had been nothing but nice to her since she got here. However, she already felt a headache coming, her ex-not-boyfriend was a thieving jerk who still hadn't called to explain himself, and they _woke her up again._ That had better not become a habit with these people.

"That's not true," Amara piped in.

"Not totally," Tabby added.

They both sat down, now forming a semi-circle around her, and Rogue felt an unreasonable tug of claustrophobia. Weird, right?

"No, Rogue. I, at least, came here to see about you. I understand that the boy was your boyfriend and I know that –

"Whoa," Rogue cut the purple haired mutant off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. 'Wind that back. When did 'boyfriend' ever come out of my mouth? That boy was never my boyfriend. Haven't had one of them since I was fifteen."

"Is that when your powers manifested?" Amara asked.

"No, that happened when I was thirteen."

Rogue noticed the looks that passed around them.

"Y'all are wonderin' how I pulled that off with my powers."

"The thought crossed their minds," Betsy nodded to the other two girls.

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd be willing to give up the guy's number," Tabby said.

"No."

"You still like him?" Amara asked.

"I don't trust him."

"But do you like him?" Betsy pressed. "If he asked, would you forgive him?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to?"

"I don't know! Okay! I really don't. I mean, I think I might, but that would be dumb 'cuz look at what he did. How stupid would I be if I just overlooked that 'cuz he's sorry! Why would I do that? Just because Remy makes me laugh, and he's sweet, and he ain't scared of me, and he's cute? Those are terrible reasons!"

They sat silently for a full minute before Tabby said,

"But he's like, hot, cute though. Like melt your ice cream hot."

Rogue snorted a laugh. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Yeah," she admitted ruefully. "I just have bad taste in guys, it seems. They all turn out jerks. Or I don't know, maybe it's me."

"Of course it's not you," Amara objected. "It's always them."

"Yeah, there's something chemically wrong with them," Tabby backed her friend up. "All that testosterone ruins them at birth. Bets got lucky with her man."

"Please, luck had nothing to do with it. That is training, my dear."

"But for sure," Tabby went on, "you've got Kitty beat for bad boy boyfriend. I mean, even after everything else, he's never just attacked the mansion. And by himself too! Except he wasn't your boyfriend, wink wink nudge nudge."

After they left, Rogue couldn't remember how she'd stopped being defensive and mean to actually opening up to them. Sure, she'd had fun the other night at the party, but being open, even a little about her feelings...that was not normal. She must be more tired than she thought. This time, she'd shower before she crashed on the floor.

**

* * *

**

Remy wanted nothing more than to collapse on the floor. Yes, the floor was cold, and hard, and metal, but he was sore and bruised. He remembered several times in his life when he was grateful for the armor he'd been outfitted with. It'd stopped the bullets from actually going into him but still hit with enough impact to be felt. He was sure his back sported a very interesting pattern of bruises.

Instead of collapsing, he sauntered to the boss's office to give him his files. Why he couldn't just have Morph do it, he'd never understand. Sure, he explained it, but it was stupid. Morph could have gotten it done better than he did since he was already on the inside. But did Magneto listen? Nooooo. 'Course not. He just had to have it now. He couldn't wait the two or three days. If that was the case, why didn't the fool have this done two months ago when the new mutants first showed up?

He walked through the metal halls, purposely keeping his mind off of the look of fury on Rogue's face. He'd put himself in quite a few binds with the femmes over the years, but he hadn't really cared that much. He either made something up to get them over it with a dash of charm on the side, or he'd get the heck outta Dodge. With Rogue, though, it was different. _She _was different. He was attracted to her in a way the others just hadn't done. Possibly it was the allure of the forbidden. Look, but don't touch. He'd been thinking of a way around that, but he knew that her body wasn't all there was to it.

Of course, he couldn't leave anyway. He was on contract with Eric for the near future. His père would flay him and feed his carcass to the gators when he got his hands on him. That was _if _ol' Iron Pants was gracious enough to leave any piece of him to skin.

Before he could get too deep into that, he bumped into Kyle in the hall. Tall, but two inches shy of Remy's height, long blond hair down his back, and blue eyes were not the reasons Magneto had 'hired' Wild Child. The healing factor, enhanced senses, stamina, strength, and razor claws were.

"How'd the mission go?"

Kyle couldn't care less really, and they both knew it. If he wasn't actively apart of a mission, he usually didn't pay attention one way or the other. But Magneto had kept them on a tight leash, the Wild Child more than the rest, and they were getting restless. Anything out of routine would be better than nothing.

Remy grunted and kept trudging along.

"That bad, huh?" Kyle asked, falling into step next to Remy, the chain belt around his black pants jingling. "But at least you didn't get caught."

Remy said nothing but slipped Kyle a look.

"Whoa. You got caught? You got the old man's stuff, right?"

"Bien sur."

"What happened?"

Visions of running for his life from Rogue's – Anna's – uncle flashed through his mind. How he didn't make the connection before, he'd never know. But then he'd never gotten a last name. In six years, Anna had certainly grown quite a bit, all legs and curves. Plus, there'd been a lot of girls between then and now. A whole lot. The first clue was the picuture that branched from her file with Logan's, Wade's, Raven's, and Kurt's names on them. That was the only one he needed, as Wade hadn't changed a bit over the last six years.

"Don' wanna talk about it. 'M gonna get dis crap t' boss man and sleep dis bad experience off. Later, mon ami."

"I was hoping we'd get a spar in."

"Ask Nail."

"She hits really hard though."

"Only if you piss her off. Den she gets sloppy. Ya might even be able t' beat her den."

"Whatever."

They parted ways, going down opposite halls. Remy didn't bother knocking and the metal door automatically slid open. The office, like the rest of the base, was metal. The desk, the floor, walls and ceiling, even the chair though it had some type of cushion to it. The old man needed his lumbar support. There were no pictures, nothing to make the area at all welcoming. Either wall was adorned with shelves stacked with books. Directly behind the desk was a computer, much like the one in Xavier's mansion. Magneto had his back to him, messing around with the thing. When Remy walked in, he shut off the screen and turned to face him.

_Paranoid old man._

Although, he did have reason to be.

"You have it then," Magneto stated this, not expecting anything but success from his Acolytes.

"Right here," Remy's hand went to the pocket on the inside of his trench coat to retrieve the small device. It was lifted from his hand to Magneto's outstretched hand.

"Good. What else?" his tone was abrupt, seeing that Remy wasn't leaving just yet.

"Nothin'. Jus' thought ya might wanna know dat dey saw me."

"They who?" Magneto arched a brow.

Remy internally flinched. He looked like his père when he did that. It was disturbing to think of the Buckethead as his father.

"Everyone but de Wolverine, de professor, and Beast."

Magneto pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something about incompetence. Remy willed himself not to outwardly bristle at that insult.

"I told you it was risky," he went on. "Woulda been better if ya'd used Morph for dis one."

"You thought to prove your point with your idiocy?" Magneto snapped. Remy's red eyes seemed to glow a bit as he kept a check on his temper. Blowing up the man would not make the situation better. Maybe if he blew up the other one, but he didn't know where to find that one, and he always had too many people with guns around him.

Instead of the angry retort that wanted to escape his mouth, he kept his mouth shut and glared at him.

"If that's all, you can leave," Magneto waved a hand in dismissal, the door opened, and he turned his back on Remy.

**

* * *

**

Back in his room, Remy shed his coat and draped it on the foot of his bed. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it in the corner along with his armor. Before he went into the bathroom connected to his room, he turned the laptop. He used the mirror in the bathroom to check out his wounds. There were a few shallow cuts from when those swords had gotten a bit too close, but they'd mostly stopped bleeding except for the one across his ribs. It was a bit deeper than the others and longer too. He set to taking care of it.

After he was done tending to his wounds, he came out of the bathroom and went for the laptop. He went for the pockets of his coat again and pulled out another jump drive like the one he gave Magneto. He plugged it into the computer and prepared to send it to the address he'd memorized months ago.

"You better appreciate dis."

Not thinking he'd have the attention span to absorb any of the information, Remy postponed going over the files on his own for tonight, put everything away, and fell asleep on his bed. His last conscious thought was how could something so terrible happen when it wasn't Monday. Its evil was spreading.

* * *

A/N: Gun Scope, for those who don't know, that is not a permanent thing attached to the gun. It is just a part of the gun that can be removed and used like a telescope. Like in the Jason Bourne movie when he's spying on Pamela Landy (he beat him with a book and then he kilt him with a towel!) That may not be the case all of the time, but Rogue's is like that.

Which is the little one? The X Jet or the Black Bird?

Who's confused about who 'Iron Pants' is? Good. You're not supposed to know yet. **J.J Bean **should know unless she forgot. If you can guess, then yay you, but he has made an appearance in here before and he will again.

I'm actually getting good grades on my tests. I can honestly say I'm surprised. I was sure I was a lot stupider than this. Shocked and pleasantly in a dumbstruck stupor. Gobsmacked, even.


	29. Growing Pains

Because I can and just feel like it and 400 hundred review mark deserves some sort of recognition: **GhostAuthor, River Bleek(formerly mydarkreply), Rogueslove22, blackberryhuntress, LoveNCIS, yingyanggirl, queenith, Raven34link, Ace-of-Cyberspace13, aecul, MoonRose91, sharky237 (my OCD #400 reviewer!), JediMutant93, GabbyKat13**

You guys make me smile :)

* * *

Rogue dropped herself into her usual chair at the Brotherhood lunch table and unceremoniously let her head fall against the table without a word. The occupants all stared for a minute, shooting each other confused looks.

"You okay?" Fred asked.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"You sure?" Todd asked, poking her in the shoulder. "You sick or somethin'?"

"You know, you got this habit of saying that when you never are," Lance pointed out.

"So again, what's wrong? Crazy weekend?"

Her head snapped up from the table and she propped it up on her gloved fist.

"Y'all wanna know? I mean, really, really?"

"That's why we're asking," Todd said.

"Too bad! I ain't talkin' 'bout it anymore," she told them.

The twins shared a glance and had an 'Oh, I see' moment.

"This is about your boyfriend, right?" Pietro asked with a smirk.

"What? No! I don't have a boyfriend."

"Well, your-whatever-you-call-him-friend. You two not talking?"

"What makes you think this 'friend' even exists?"

"Rogue," Pietro started. "Be real."

"You're only always talking to him," Wanda followed.

"And giggling."

"Or texting him."

"While giggling."

"Or staring off into space with this look. Like how Lance used to look when he was thinking about Kitty."

"Like a total doofus."

"Hey!" Lance protested, affronted at the insult that the twins ignored.

"Then you'd giggle, and we'd be like what and you'd say," the twins simultaneously clasped their hands together over their hearts and slapped on goofy grins and sighed, "Noooothiiiin'."

The whole table broke into laughter then.

"I don't giggle!" Rogue protested.

"That's such a weird word," Todd said. "And you did, just your version of it."

"Yeah, but it's a lot less high pitched," Fred agreed.

"And less irritating."

"Annoying."

"Never once did I want to surgically remove my ears."

"Yeah, no bleed effect."

Everyone just stared at them.

"We had a bad experience with a giggler, okay?"

"Whatever. My family is crazy, my dad's seriously harsh, and my friend is a total dick wad. Now I'm done with it and we ain' talkin' 'bout it no more. Got it?"

The conversation went on to other less touchy subjects and was later dropped and forgotten completely.

There was another assembly today. Everyone was, of course, so excited and happy to attend! No. No, they really weren't. Honestly, who really cared that Principle Kelly wanted to award the MVP trophy and whatever else to yada yada for kicking a ball. Rogue didn't. Still, she found herself sitting mid-row, bored out of her mind, as Kelly droned on and on about how great the team was and the players and everyone is awesome.

Finally, he started to actually say things that would get this moving and announced this year's MVP.

"Jean Grey!"

Who was sitting up front and so didn't have to walk far at all. How convenient. Almost like she knew…

At this point, Rogue zoned out again and let the cheering and amplified voices fade out. Her thoughts brought her back to, once again, what was going on with that stupid Cajun. Logan had said no cell phone, but he hadn't taken it from her until just this morning. Not one call or text from Remy. She'd agonized over whether or not to call him, but couldn't help but think how that'd make her look. Seriously, who calls the guy who just robbed your house to see when we were reschudling that date – er, not date for? Desperate people is who.

She told herself she didn't care, he didn't matter, she was fine. No one else thought she was though. Her psyches didn't think she was. Apparently, Wade didn't think she was because he asked if she knew Remy's address and social security number and if 'Remy' was his real name. She squashed that though and told him he couldn't assassinate him.

It was pretty safe to assume that he remembered her from that Disney trip. Despite the embarrassment that incited, she supposed it really was irrelevant now. She wasn't going to see him anymore. Maybe ever. And no, that thought did not make her sad at all. It's not like she was going to miss the jerk. It's not like she enjoyed hanging out with him that much.

_Aw, Amsterdammit!_

She just realized she could never go back to that jazz place.

_Great. One of the only really interesting places in this town and he has to go and ruin it. Stupid, no good, low down, lying, thieving, good for nothin, slimy, little – why is it so quiet?_

Rogue looked up to see everyone staring at Jean who looked like she was having a mini panic attack.

_Whoa. How embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as your friend-boy robbing your home and all, but pretty bad._

Jean backed up into the table behind her with the rest of the trophies, knocked it over, and her own trophy that she had in hand went flying. The little on top's head broke off. A moment later, Jean seemed to come back to herself and glanced at the crowd that was staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Uh…Sorry," she knelt down to pick up her trophy and its head. "Lost my head for a minute."

Some of the crowd chuckled, and Jean recovered enough to go on with her little speech. Rogue took the opportunity to glare at Lance.

"What? I swear it wasn't me," he promised.

Then to Pietro.

"Hey, I never moved."

Todd.

"Man, what? What would I 'a done? Spit at her without anyone seein'?"

Finally, Wanda.

"So what if I did?" she asked haughtily.

"Did you?"

"Nope."

"Do y'all realize what this means?"

They all looked at her expectantly.

"Miss Jeanie is losin' it."

Pietro was fast to catch on.

"And when she loses it, the rest of the crowd will follow," he said. "And with their fall, they'll be lower than us."

"Once that happens, we'll be on top and rule the world in an unnatural order where dessert comes first."

"Ya got my vote," Freddy said.

"Silly boy, it's not a democracy. It's my own special brand of tyranny."

Todd tilted his head.

"Yo, since Mystique's ya mama, I ain't even sure if you're kiddin' or not."

Rogue gave him a purposely evil smile.

Later, Rogue and Lance had a free period while some of the others were practicing various sports. Neither one could care less, but there was nothing else to do that wouldn't get them in trouble so they decided to watch. They settled on the front row of the bleachers to watch.

The track field was spread out in front of them with areas set up all around for the different sports. It actually turned out to be pretty funny to watch, especially when Scott beat out one of the uber-jocks. Duncan, the blond fool Jean had dumped, didn't appreciate and threw a punch Scott's way. The coach though had to go and do his job, and kept them from getting into a full blown fight, and Jock wash sent to the showers.

Jean was out center field with one of those long spear things that Rogue didn't really understand why anyone had because how often would you have the opportunity to throw a spear at anyone? Suddenly, she dropped the spear, clutched her head, and sank to her knees.

The spear that she dropped rose into the air along with several of those shot-put balls. The spear turned towards a line of runners on the opposite end of Rogue and Lance and went flying.

"Whoa!"

"I got it!" Lance caused a small quake to head towards the runners, tripping them all up, and the spear just missed impaling all of them. Kitty was one of the runners and looked over at them. Lance sent her a salute, but Rogue was already sprinting onto the field towards Jean.

One of the iron orbs around was launched away just missing Rogue and headed straight for

"SCOTT!" Rogue called out.

Scott turned just in time to see the round missile and quickly lifted his shades, deflecting it up and away from him. Coincidentally, the ball soared over the school and embedded itself in Principle Kelly's car.

"Jean, knock it off!" Rogue told her, dodging the flying debris and trying to get to her.

"I can't! I can't!" she cried.

"Jean, what's wrong?" Scott had run up to her and fell on his knees next to her.

"Scott? I can't make it stop! Help me!" then Jean collapsed against him unconscious.

"What is going on?" Kitty asked as she ran up.

"Jean's powers are freaking out on her. Scott, c'mon. We need to get her to the professor."

As Lance watched Scott carry Jean off the field to the parking lot with Rogue and Kitty, he couldn't help but wonder,

"How does no one ever see these things?"

**

* * *

**

Logan was not in a good mood. To look at him, one would think that was normal. On the contrary, he was usually content with his life, especially so after he got his daughter. He wasn't about to start breaking into song or anything but his life was good, even with that aggravation in South Carolina. But ever since he found out his wife was in the same town as him, things just seemed to irritate him. A lot. The fact that his daughter didn't seem inclined to just up and go live with her soothed him slightly. Then come to find out, she went and got herself a boyfriend.

Now, Logan didn't remember what it was like being a teenager, but he knows exactly what it's like being a man. Logically, he knows how they think. Over the years, he's seen his baby girl grow and he's seen boys and men look at his daughter in ways that made him want to carve their eyes out, maybe put them in a jar as a trophy.

It's not his fault that they are all little piss-heads that don't know how you're supposed to treat Anna. Neither is it his fault that she felt the need to not tell him about this most recent boy just because the last few now probably have some kind of emotional trauma. In his mind, the older they are, the harsher they can be dealt with.

Still, maybe he'd been too hard on Rogue though…

…Nah.

That is off subject though.

Presently, the cause of his foul mood was the news of who the new director of Weapon X was: Malcolm Colcord. A real piece of work. He was a cocky little idiot that Logan remembered as a scientist. He was certain that Malcolm remembered him as the mutant that left with three very neat scars on the right side of his face. Fury had provided this information to him just this morning in his news paper. How the man managed stuff like that, Logan never wanted to know. He was paranoid enough as is.

He had let Wade take a look at the thin, four page file after the kids had left for school. From the way Wade gone off in a rant, it was safe to say that he'd met Colcord.

Twenty minutes later and he was still going.

"I hope he dies soon. Or slowly and painfully screaming with his last breath, gagging on his own vomit wallowing in his own filth, and the horror of his death haunts him for all of his after life!"

Wade turned and stormed out of the rec. room. Not even a minute later, he came back, as he'd done eight times before. The only reason Logan hadn't put a stop to this was because it was pretty amusing and he mostly agreed.

"One more thing!" he said again. "He's ugly. And his mama dressed him funny and she's even uglier than him and she wears clown shoes! And he's stupid!"

He stormed out…again. Logan waited for five minutes before he thought he was done. That seemed to be well and truly it. Minutes later, he heard Wade's bike tearing down the driveway. With nothing better to do with his anger, he decided to work it off in the Danger Room. Or hey… maybe he could go pick a fight with Raven. On top of being stress relieving, it was fun to get her so mad she turned purple.

All of those plans were put on hold, however, when he heard Scott's car coming up the drive, fast. No way was straight-lace, boy scout Summers cutting school and if he was, no one was stupid enough to come home where the adults were to do it. Something was up.

Logan walked out to the foyer just as Kitty ran through the closed doors. She looked at him frantically.

"You have to get the professor! Something's wrong with Jean!"

The doors burst open, Rogue in front of Scott who carrying an unconscious Jean. Logan immediately went into take charge of the situation where everyone else is acting like a chicken with its cut off.

"Take her to the med bay now! Get Chuck, Half Pint."

**

* * *

****.**

Rogue had come up with the bright idea of absorbing some of Jean in order to help her clear her head enough to reach her. Logan had objected at first, not wanting to put her in danger until she'd argued that there was 'no time for his bull crap and she wasn't losin' another house in the same year' so suck it up. She hadn't said that last part out loud though. Her brilliant plan had worked with the side effect of bruising due to the flying debris that Jean had made. Rogue was standing in front of her mirror examining the bruises already showing up on her side. She gingerly touched one and flinched.

_This simply will not do._

She reached inside her mind and called for…hmm. Logan or Wade? On one hand, Wade's healing factor was faster. On the other, Logan was saner. Since she didn't want to end up tripping out on one of Wade's memories tonight, she picked Logan.

In her mindscape, her father appeared before, gruff as always.

"How long do you think I'll be grounded?" she asked him. He should know, right?

He shrugged.

"Heck if I know, kid. That was pretty reckless earlier. That clip board was going fast enough to take yer head off."

"Well, it didn't so no worries. Seriously, did ya have to be a total, evil person 'bout the punishment?"

He rolled his eyes.

"I didn't, he did. Ya know there's a difference. And if it were up to me, you'd 'a gotten a lot worse since I know good and well what you two been doin'."

"We didn't do anythin'! Ya know that."

"You thought it."

"I- yo- it wasn't – that – shut up!" Rogue sputtered, red faced with indignation and embarrassment. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about. It was just ridiculous. And all too true. But she wasn't about to admit that to her _dad_ even if he was just in her head.

"Uh-huh," he smirked and held his hand out.

She briefly considering forgoing his hand and smacking him in the face. A terrible thought, she knew, but still, she thought it.

"Next time, I'm usin' Wade and takin' it with a swig of whiskey," she informed him a moment before she took his hand. Previously, she'd noticed that if she drank alchohol before she slept after she'd accessed her powers, there were no dreams. However, she couldn't hold her liquor.

"Don't be a brat all your life," he told her as the expanse of black and stars faded out and she came back to herself, still standing in front of her mirror.

Aches and pains now gone, she was about to deal with the other side effect she seemed to have acquired. It would seem that along with Jean's personality, powers, and all that made her Jean, she got a heavy dose of her like for Scott. Honestly, part of her had been freaking out while it was noticing the other part of her was acutely aware of how attractive Scott was. Yeah, that would be a _Hell _no.

The knock at her door interrupted the solving of that problem and before she could say come in, Logan was walking right on in.

"You all right?" abrupt and to the point as always.

"I'm –"

"Do not say you're fine. Ya say that even when you're not. Tell me," he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rogue sighed and plopped down on her bed.

"I am perfectly A-1. I used your healing factor to fix my little bruises and such which were my only problems."

"I meant up here," he pointed to his head. "I don't just mean Jean either. Since when do you keep secrets from me?"

"Please tell me we're not talkin' about Remy again," she rolled her eyes.

"Can't do it, Stripes," he walked over to her desk chair and sat down. "So get to talkin'."

She hated when he did this. Just up and outta know where make her start talking about her feelings and what she was thinking. Considering it was freaking Logan the Wolverine, it could be considered weird if it weren't normal at this point. She wasn't sure when it had started, and she didn't like it. No real reason she could think of, she'd just decided she didn't.

"Uuugh," she covered her face with her bare hands, moving them down to prop her head in her hands. "It's like this," she looked him directly into the grey eyes of the man she loved so much, eyes like her own. "You're insane. Not like Wade who lives crazy out loud but like the small, quiet guy who you seriously need to watch. I mean, if I didn't know you, you'd terrify me. Stop smilin' about that."

He did, just barely.

"Now, do you remember my first boyfriend and what y'all did when ya first met him?"

Logan grinned.

"Yes, that. And do you remember what all ya did while we were dating?"

He nodded.

"And when we broke up?"

He snorted a laugh.

"Exactly! That is my point. Wade goes crazy spoutin' violence and death –"

"You like violence."

"and you just jump on the band wagon with him and leave my exes tied up in gyms and in random fields and bury them alive!"

"We got him back out and he was fine. And you had no problem with us doin' that then."

"I was a child and embittered against the young male race."

"Eighteen hardly makes you less of a child."

"Well, according to society, it makes me an adult and therefore, I have the right to date whomever I please without tellin' my potentially homicidal father and uncle about the boy!"

"I thought you said you two weren't dating," he tilted his head and arched a brow.

"I – it – we- we weren't! I was just sayin' like for an example."

"Uh-huh. Lemme see if I'm followin' yer ramblin'. You think 'cause you're a year older, you can go around gettin' boys without me knowin' 'cause you're past the stage of wanting them good and scared into behaving so you kept it secret from your dad 'cause you were afraid I'd hurt him."

"Um, right."

"Do you realize how immature that sounds?"

"Well, when you say it like that, yeah!" she told him with fake exasperation.

"Anna," oh dear, he's using real names. It's serious time. "Understand this. You are my kid, now matter how old you get. I will never let anyone treat you wrong and have them get away with it. I did those things, and I will continue to doing them to protect you."

"You can't protect me from everything."

"I'll die tryin," he reached out and put his hand on her knee, about as affectionate as the man got. "And you're just gonna have to deal with it, darlin'."

"I suppose I'll live but I ain't too sure about the boys."

"Ha," Logan stood up and headed for the door. "Oh, yeah," he tossed Rogue her phone who looked up at him curiously. "You're not grounded anymore."

"It's amazing what a softie you can be," she grinned at him.

"Hn, don't let it get around," he told her as he shut the door.

Rogue turned on her phone and checked to see if she had any new messages or missed calls. Text from Tony. He might be coming to visit soon. Missed call from Johnny. He left a voicemail about torching his school and asking if he could live with her while Sue calmed down. Nothing from Remy. She shut the phone and left it on her bed. Deciding to forget about it, she focused on Jean's psyche in order to rid herself of her new 'crush' on Scott. Oh, gag.

**

* * *

**Now squeaky clean from her shower and de-purged from thinking that Scott was the greatest thing since slice cheese, Rogue walked back into her room dressed in her pajamas. It was still early, but she wasn't going out so why not? Immediately, she knew something wasn't right. Not so much that someone had been in her room, but someone had touched something. It wasn't one of the girls; they'd never be that stupid. It could be a Bobby or even a Kurt prank, though she didn't smell sulfur.

Glancing warily around her room for something out of place, her eyes landed on a piece of paper on her mirror. She removed it and saw that it was a playing card, the Jack of hearts. The name of their jazz club, The Pack Rat, was written on it along with a time and day. She stared at it for several minutes before

BAMF

Her brother's arrival snapped her out of it. She spun around to see him standing in the middle of her room with his hand over his eyes.

"Rogue, we have an emergency. Are you decent? It's veird talking like zhis."

"Uh, hold on," she dropped the card into her jewelry box. "Okay, what's up?"

"Bobby has drawn first blood and it calls for retaliation. So since you are my schweister, I thought you might be interested in a little revenge."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Prank War IV. Me and you against Bobby."

That would be a welcome distraction from her problems. And therapeutic at the same time.

"I'm in. But if we're keepin' it in the family, it's only right to include Wade."

"Vhere is he anyway?"

"Who knows. He'll turn up later."

**

* * *

**Wade stumbled into the mansion around six the next morning smelling of fried cheese and bacon, grinning like the fool he was before collapsing on the couch in the rec. room. Suffice to say, he was upset having missed all the action yesterday.

"You guys do all the fun stuff when I'm not around on purpose."

"We almost died."

"And your point being…?"

* * *

A/N: I have come to a marvelous realization! I do not have photographic memory; therefore, I should study before tests days in advance.

See, not 'evil, evil father'. Total softie wrapped in a bad man persona who is still able to _take you out. _So in order for things to make sense in the future, I need Rogue to absorb certain people. Jean is one of them and since it went like this in the show, I thought I'd do a bit of revising and go with it. There are a few other people she needs to get in order for my version of Self-Possessed (long ways off) to work so bear with me.

The way I have it planned, everything is kinda gonna be coming right after the other. However, how often do my plans work?


	30. The One with the Drama

Happy New Year! 2011! 1/01/11! Let it begin, people!

And on that note: Hi! You missed this story, didn't you? I know, it's okay. You can say it…don'thurtme omigosh Idon't likepain ithurtsme I'msorry! At least I didn't make you wait a year. Just 'til the new one. And I gave y'all lots of good stuff in between. There's always that.

Last chapter (A really really REALLY long time ago), there was some confusion as to what Johnny I was referring to. (and they're all like, as if we remember what happened a hundred years ago, Blue!) That was Johnny Storm a.k.a the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four. His relationship to Rogue will be explored in Scenes.

'_stuff in italics with these little quotation marks are songs for this chapter'_

* * *

On this afternoon at Mutant Manor, wicked plans were being hatched. Up in Kurt's room, Wade was reminiscing his war days by re-enacting the manner that his commanding officer used while he came up with ideas to get Bobby back. They explained that they'd gotten him enough yesterday with the spiders, and Bobby just screwing the whole prank thing and jumping into using powers. They still beat him but Wade insisted that the enemy needed to put firmly back in his place. Which was under Wade's boot.

"Yesterday, we were viciously attacked without provocation. We were done an injustice. Are we going to let that go unpunished?"

Kurt opened his mouth to answer but Rogue told him to hush and shake his head no.

"You can bet your fuzzy, blue butt we're not!" Wade continued, "I have already enacted the first part of Operation: Mama's Boy."

"I don't zhink Bobby iz a mama's boy though."

"He's gonna be by the time I get through with him," Wade told him with an eerie, face-splitting smile.

Rogue and Kurt stared at Wade who was perfectly serious. Kurt leaned towards her slightly.

"Ve vanted him on our team, vhy?" he whispered.

"'Cause we don't want him on the other team."

Kurt nodded understandingly. Then what Wade said fully dawned on Rogue.

"Wade?"

"Yes, Sunshine?"

"You said that you already did somethin'. What was it?"

"Oh, you know. Basic counter-measures type stuff. It's not lethal, if that's what you're worried about," he chuckled, glancing away from her.

_I mean, I'm pretty sure it's not lethal._

_**It's not like you'd know. You never tried to use super glue to kill a guy.**_

_True. Except that one time with in Reno. No way can that kill…unless you do something _really _stupid. _

…_**It's Bobby.**_

_Well…then it might be lethal-ish. Would it be 'bad' to accidentally kill one of the students? _

_**Yeah, that might be frowned on.**_

"Hm. I'll be back," Wade announced as he walked out the door.

Kurt stared after the strange man for a moment.

"Does he know he said all zhat out loud?"

"He usually doesn't."

"Rogue, I have to know. Is he insane?"

"Very. But he's safe. If you're on his side. Most of the time…well, I'm safe."

* * *

When Wade came back in with a screwdriver and a toilet seat with super glue on it…the siblings convinced him that it would be best to barter a treaty. They let Wade talk (threaten) Bobby, and he saw the wisdom in agreeing. And Wade got a minion for the day.

He'd tasked Bobby with finding his Baretta, as he'd managed to misplace it somewhere in his room. Two hours later, and the boy had still yet to be seen.

So Wade went on to occupy himself with post-dinner snack. A little something he liked to call 'Grease on a Bun' and others would call a Philly cheese steak. Man, was this thing greasy! Like, just a heart attack waiting to happen. He could just envision the mound of fat this stuff would form. Hm…Would he still get the fat if he did that bulimic throw up thing? Or were those anorexics? One of them didn't eat. _That, _he didn't get. How does one _not_ eat? Food, next to guns and knives and explosives, was pretty much like his bff.

…What was he doing again? Wade glanced down at the table. Oh, yes. Philly cheese steak. A foot-long, heart-stopping, plaque-building, artery-clogging mound of greasy meat with melty, pepper jack cheese loaded with bacon on two slice of wheat. But that was okay. He could do that. His diet alone put his healing factor on overtime.

He was just bringing his glorious creation to his mouth when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where ya goin'? Can I come? Where are we goin'?"

Rogue back-pedaled to the kitchen entrance.

"I'm goin' to see Mama. Let Daddy know, all right?"

"Sure. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he called out.

"Right. So I'll just say bye before you realize you've just given me permission to do whatever I want! See ya."

Wade stared after her. What was that supposed to mean?

He shrugged. Whatever. His sandwich was getting cold. It wasn't half an hour later before he figured it out. He paused with a nacho halfway to his mouth, hit with realization. Then he got over it. Rogue had more sense than to do something utterly stupid, petty, vengeful, homi- or suicidal by herself. She was a good kid; she would have invited _him_ if she were going to do something like that.

With that assurance in mind, Wade kicked back, chugged half a liter of orange soda, and watched Bugs Bunny for the next two hours, hoping that the Duck would get him _just once._

* * *

Before Rogue could make it out the door, Tabby rushed up to her.

"Take me with you!" the blond yelled and latched herself onto Rogue's arm. "I'm dying of boredom here!"

Rogue removed the girl from her.

"I'm kinda gonna go see my mom. I don't think you'd be any more entertained there."

"Really?" Tabby held her chin in hand in a thoughtful manner. "Weird. Because I'm sure Pie told me that she was going out of town."

Think, Rogue, think!

"Uh…"

…that was the complete opposite of thinking.

Tabby grinned at her in a mischievous way. She leaned forward a bit to whisper conspiratorially,

"You're going to see your boyfriend, aren't you?"

"He is not –" Rogue lowerd her voice from the near yell. "He is not my boyfriend!"

Tabby arched a brow and held her hands in a placating gesture.

"Sure, tell me anything. But hey, we better get going. We wouldn't want to be late for ol' nobody, huh?" she asked with a wink.

"You don't tell _anyone _about this," Rogue warned mildly.

Tabby merely waved that away.

"Please," she scoffed. "Like I'm a snitch."

"No, but you're a gossip. Promise me."

"'Kay, know what?" she rolled her eyes and grabbed Rogue's gloved hand. She looped her pinky around Rogue's. "I pinky promise. Okay? We good? Then let's ride out of here, Miss Dixie!"

Tabby strutted her way out of the foyer headed to the garage. Rogue planted her hands on a hip for a moment before she followed, calling

"Who the _hell_ are ya callin' _Dixie_?"

**

* * *

**

As it just so happened, Raven wasn't at home. She wasn't even in the country presently, and Rogue had known that before she'd left. At the moment, she was sitting in a booth not too close and not too far from the stage at the Pack Rat, playing with her straw and waiting. She would drive by the Brotherhood house on her way home after she changed the time on her phone briefly. That way, if asked, she could say that she went there at such and such time and not be lying. When she'd quickly explained that part of the plan to Tabby, the blond remarked that she'd have to remember that one.

The Pack Rat was a play on the name of the Rat Pack, a group of actors and singers started in the fifties. The group included talent such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. In keeping with the style of the era of the group, the entire club was fashioned in classic fifties style. A live big band on stage, neon lights, cigarette girls, singers in tailored suits and slicked hair, some of the patrons even dressed the part.

She and Tabby still didn't stand out in their modern day fashions, as there were others who didn't go quite as deep into the themed club. They were able to weave through the crowd, not attracting any more attention that two attractive, young ladies should otherwise merit. Rogue dropped Tabby off with Bennet at the bar and made him promise not to give that under-age girl alcohol or wander off with some strange guy.

"You better pinky promise," Tabby'd warned with a wink at the good-looking bartender, "or she'll break your pinky, promise."

Rogue had always liked that old-style type of music, and she'd very nearly swooned the first time Remy'd brought her here. That first time, there was a man who could have been Dean Martin himself, crooning into a microphone. She'd had a time of it, being torn between focusing on the man next to her and the one on stage singing in Italian.

Aside from the music and atmosphere, the company was what really made this special for her. Right now though, after all that…she was just very confused. She found herself halfway wishing she'd talk to her mom about this situation when she'd had the chance. The fact that she absolutely had no hope of stopping her mother if she so much as had a whim to kill Remy stopped her.

But why should she stop them anyway? Aside from the fact that killing people was wrong unless they were Weapon X. Other than the fact she had a conscious, she couldn't let her family kill Remy.

_Of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that you still like him._

Rogue ducked her head against the voices in her head, unable to deny that truthfully.

'_My heart cries for you, sighs for you, dies for you!'_

Rogue sent a glare to the 'Dean Martin' on stage. Really? That song? Out of every song he could sing, he picked,

'_My heart longs for you! Please come back to me!'_

…Ordinarily, Rogue loved Dean Martin songs as much as Pillar. However, at this moment, she was thinking about going to kick that guy in the shins. But, no! She just needed to calm down. She would handle this with class. She'd be cool. Above all, she would control her temper!

"Rogue."

"What?" she responded automatically.

She flinched inwardly, thinking she could have greeted him with a bit more…tact. Or something. Rogue looked up to his amused, unique eyes.

"Bonjour, cherie. I missed you aussi. How you been?" he smirked.

He was trying to keep it easy. To make it pleasant and as simple as all their other meetings. For obvious reasons, that tactic would not succeed.

She shrugged, "My family wants you dead."

He let out a chuckle as he slid into his seat.

"This isn't funny," she narrowed her eyes on him, "Was I a mark from the start of this?"

"No, ya really weren't. You are startin' dis date off on an entirely too serious note," he sighed.

"This is not a date," she told him with a hint of annoyance. It really didn't bode well for the rest of this meeting if he was already getting on her nerves. "Be real with me, Remy, or I'm out of here."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I'm not asking for your life's story. Just an explanation and some names, and we'll take it from there."

"Those…are exactly what I can't tell ya."

"Give me somethin' here, Remy! Do you honestly expect me to just trust you?"

He stayed quiet so long, she thought he wouldn't answer. Well, she wasn't going to let the question go so easily. It was a sensible question, and it –_she –_ deserved an answer. So she'd sit quiet and patient and let him work on whatever lie he -

"It's part of my job."

…this was a lie?

"Your job. You told me before your dad had you here on contract to some guy. You're a thief for hire?"

"Most thieves are for hire, actually. Random jobs, tryin' to find buyers after de fact. Troublesome."

Her hand came to rest on the table, fiddling with one of the napkins and giving it her utmost concentration. Boy, did she know how to pick 'em.

Rogue, I _hated _havin' t' do dat to you! I never meant to hurt you and –"

Rogue's eyes snapped up to his. He was looking her in the eye, dead serious.

"Ya didn't hurt me," she denied. "You seriously pissed me off, Remy, and you broke my trust. And if you didn't want to do it, then why did you?"

"It is very complicated and classified."

"So I guess askin' you about your employer is out too then?"

He drummed his fingers on the table top and shifted in his seat.

"Oui."

Rogue heaved an aggravated sigh and went ahead to allow her indulgence of twisting the hair at the nape of her neck around. A more contained way to rip one's hair out.

"This shouldn't be as hard as it is…with you," she made a vague gesture with her hand towards him. "You shouldn't matter this much," she sighed again, frustrated with the whole situation.

_I can't even truthfully say that I want nothing to do with you because I do!_

She left that unsaid and hoped he didn't pick up on it. Yet the fact that she was here at all kind of gave it away. Or that she was just interested in information. But if that were really the case, she would have absorbed him and be gone already. Oh, it annoyed her that he knew when she was lying.

"Please believe moi when I say I would love nothin' more than t' tell ya everythin', cherie, but I can't. Not now. I need you trust me, Rogue."

Trust him. After what he did and no other explanation other than he was a thief. That's what he did for a living. And she was supposed to trust that. Every part of that possessed a _molecule _of common sense said no. Absolutely not. Yet a part, though small but present part of her, really wanted to say yes.

Can't have it both ways though.

"That's the problem. I did trust you and I still want to. But you've given me more reasons not to and not a whole lot to work with. And you're still not."

"Dat's why it's called trust."

"No," she refuted That's stupidity and naiveté."

A short staring match went on, with one trying to convince the other to just let it go _please._ Just forget about it. Forget everything and focus on this. But some wills are simply too stubborn to submit.

"I can't tell you, Rogue."

Rogue glanced away to avoid his eyes.

"Then I can't trust you. This thing we're doin'," she looked up to meet his eyes again. ",it's done. Goodbye, Remy."

Abruptly, she stood to go and he reached out for her. She snatched her hand away before he could get a grip.

"Do not. Touch me," she snarled out.

He was standing next to her now. Remy let out a sigh, full of regret.

"Rogue, please. Desole, cherie."

Rogue didn't respond. She forced herself to walk calmly to the door without running. Weaving directly through the crowd of dancers, her entire intent was on getting out of there, away from him, before she started crying. Or tried to beat him within an inch of his life. At the moment, she could go either way.

Neither would be good. If she cried…she cried. Which was a no. For one thing, the way her father and uncle used to freak out when she cried freaked her out. Now it was just something she did not do. On top of that, she just flat-out refused to cry in front of him. That part may have been her pride.

Now if she beat the crap out of him, some idiot would call the police, she'd be arrested for assault and battery, maybe even attempted murder. Wade would approve wholeheartedly and tell her he was proud of her. Logan…not so much. The assault, sure, that's fine. The meeting with the boy in the first place and _technically _lying about it was a whole other matter.

So she bit her lip and clenched her fists and walked away from him. It was fortunate for Tabby –and Rogue's sake – that she'd been watching them, or she'd very likely would have been left there. With a wink and a blown kiss to Bennet, she dashed out the door, sending Remy a parting glance. So intent on getting away, Rogue failed to notice that Remy didn't move from where she left him standing, and his eyes followed her the whole way.

'_Where are you? Where have you gone without me? I thought you cared about me. Where are you?'_

Remy glared at the wanna-be Frank Sinatra up on the stage. He thought he might blow the man up.

* * *

Rogue was just stepping out the door. She gulped down a deep breath of air.

_Calm down. Get it together. Move on._

Easier said that done.

"Hey," Tabby stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Forget him. He's a jerk, and who needs him, right? Besides, what kind of name is Remy? Sounds like an exotic dancer. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but still. Is any of this helping?"

"Some," Rogue chuckled.

"You know what you need?"

She shrugged.

"You need to party."

"I don't really feel like it, Tabby."

"Exactly! If we wait 'til you actually feel like it, we wouldn't go out for weeks. Post partum break-up disorder and all that. But see, that's why you got me to kick your butt out of your funk and drag you around whether you think you want to or not! I'm awesome, right?"

Rogue sighed, shaking her head at the younger girl's antics.

"Why not?"

"Yeah!" Tabby threw her hands in the air and did a little dance. "Why not? We're young, we're free, and we party! Whoo!"

"Whatever ya say, hon," Rogue replied dubiously.

"Great! I have it on good authority that Duncan's having another bash for us to crash! That guy's good for something at least."

Tabby locked her arms around Rogue and proceeded to drag her to her bike. For one brief moment, Rogue thought Wade's kids would be something like Tabby. That gave her pause for a moment, and she quickly calculated Tabby's age with her time with Wade.

"Nah."

* * *

A/N: Good grief, I hate proofreading.

Also, WHY DID I PUT ALL THIS DRAMA IN HERE? Though, I guess it might be a tad boring without it. (ha, _it's boring with it._ No one asked Kazoo, did they?) But it just doesn't come as easy as the humor. I'm completely out of my element with it. Ick! One main reason why this took so long is that I had at least 4 different dialogues set up for Remy and Rogue. And my gosh, all the sighing!

As is, this chapter seems a bit rushed.


	31. Hello Hello?

Ladies and gents, she's back! But she's a little peeved. Kazoo's practically foaming at the mouth with outrage. Just a little thing with a creepily identical story. But hey, maybe me and ol' girl are on the same wavelength.

A rabid, blue fox glaring at the back of my head for that does not bother me.

Once again, the Johnny I refer to is Johnny Storm. If I'm talking about Pyro, I'll call him that or St. John, as pronounced Sin Jin. I like that better.

Moving on!

* * *

By the end of it, Rogue and Tabby didn't crash Duncan's party. The freak rainstorm convinced them, more Rogue than Tabby, otherwise. Within minutes of getting on the road, the rain started to fall. The younger girl pouted but gave in easier than Rogue had expected. Then again, who liked walking around with wet shoes?

_It's probably because you look like someone ran over your dog…then backed over him and ran him over again._

Instead, Rogue headed to the Brotherhood house. She managed to outrace the actual storm by a few minutes. With the way she drove, in her mind, speed limits were more like speed suggestions. Once they arrived, the blonde seemed as excited about this prospect as she was about the idea of the party.

"Oh, yeah. This works too," Tabby grinned as she climbed off the bike.

With a confident stride, she walked up the porch and right opened the door. It seemed the Brotherhood didn't believe in locking the door. Shortly after her entrance, a flash, bang, and high-pitched scream were heard.

"Get out of our house, you psycho, X freak!"

"Make me, Pie Face!"

Rogue left her helmet on her bike and walked up to the door. As soon as her hand touched the door, the earth started to quake. Upon opening it, a white blur flew past her and out the door. Tabby ran out of the living room after him and yelled out the door.

"Get back here, Pietro!"

Lance leaned against the wall next to the living room, watching the blonde threaten his absent housemate warily.

"Rogue?"

"Lance?" she questioned as she stepped past Tabby, still yelling after Pietro.

"Why did you bring her here?"

"Oh, what? Ya suddenly got a problem with X Men?"

"Nope. I _do _have a problem with a hyper-active bomber loose in here. Between me and Wanda, we got domestic destruction down without her help."

"We're just gonna crash here for tonight. Don't worry; I won't let her trash the place. More than it is already."

"Gee, thanks…," he said with a roll of his eyes.

He then took a closer look at his friend. She hadn't really looked him in the eye since she came in. Her arms were crossed over her stomach, and she kept shifting uneasily. Lance knew nothing about sociology or the workings of the female mind. But even _Toad_ would be able to tell something was up.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, sure. Fine. Great. Fan-freaking-tastic."

Tabby abruptly whirled around from her place at the door with a cry of,

"Lies! The girl's in a situation that can only be remedied with chocolate, ice cream, and girl time venting."

"I don't need – hey!"

Tabby ran towards the stairs, snagging Rogue's arm and dragging her up with her. Wanda stood at the top of the staircase, watching the goings-on below. Tabby hopped up the last step to greet the Scarlet Witch.

"I know you and me don't really talk because you're hella scary, but our girl Rogue's in a bad place right now –"

"No, I'm not."

Rogue tried to pull her arm out of Tabby's freakishly, strong grip.

"and she needs all the support she can get right now. Like a bra."

"What is wrong with you?" Rogue very seriously asked her.

Tabby went on, completely ignoring Rogue's interruptions.

"So while here, it'd be best for her mental health and emotional stability if I don't get hexed into a wall or something. Cool?"

"If you talk as half as much as you are now, you'll make it out of here in one piece…probably."

"Cool! So where's your room?"

"Oh, just hex the maniac off of me already!" Rogue cried.

"Hush you! You know you shouldn't be alone now. Not in your unstable condition."

Wanda looked between the glaring and grinning girls and sighed.

"I already know I shouldn't but what is going on?"

"Nothing," Rogue said immediately.

"Man drama," Tabby answered for her.

"The one she was always sighing and giggling about?" Wanda questioned.

"She _giggled_?"

"Like Pietro on a sugar rush."

"That must have been hilarious."

"It was, in a disturbing kind of way."

"You'd understand if you'd seen the guy."

"You've seen him? She won't tell me anything."

"Girl," Tabby released Rogue and threw her arm around Wanda's shoulder, "you missed out _big._"

"Yeah?"

"_Oh, yeah!_ As far as eye candy, the guy's milk chocolate."

"My room's this way. Tell me more."

Rogue watched in disbelief as the two girls walked down the hall, arm in arm.

"It just says something that other people can bond over my bad taste in guys," she muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Get in on this, Dixie! We're doing this for your sake," Tabby called over her shoulder.

"I swear, if you call me Dixie one more time!"

"Dixie?" Wanda grinned. "I like it. That's your official Brotherhood name."

"Gah!"

From the base of the stairs, Lance watched Rogue stalk after the other two girls. Her threats became lower and muffled once the door to Wanda's room slammed shut. He winced then went over to the closet. He pulled on it, kicked at _that_ spot at the base once, and out tumbled Todd in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Uh, what's up?"

"Something about her guy," Lance said, reaching a hand down to help Todd up. "I don't really want to know."

"The one she giggles about?"

"Yeah."

"So are we gonna call Pietro?"

"No time soon."

Todd grinned and pushed his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels.

"Cool. I'm gonna raid his room."

"I'm gonna watch TV."

And stay out of the girl's way. Neither had to say it; both knew it.

* * *

"And then he jumped out the window when no one was looking!" Tabby gestured wildly.

She stood in the middle of Wanda's room in front of the bed. Wanda sat cross-legged in the middle on the ebony spread, fully engrossed in the tale.

"How did none of you see the guy go out a window?" Wanda pondered.

"We were distracted by Miss Southerland over there and her 'little friend'."

Tabby waved her hand at Rogue, slumped in a chair and half-glaring at them while at the same time ignoring them. It was a technique that showed her displeasure at the topic of conversation while at the same time conveying that she was not about to lower herself to participate in it. Just a little trick she picked up from Daddy Logan.

"She pulled a gun on him?"

"She pulled a gun on everybody! I just knew she was going to lose it any minute. That's why I stood away from Miss Jeanie. That red hair of hers is like a target."

Wanda smirked knowingly.

"Don't I know it."

'_B-b-b-b-bad to the bone, b-b-b-b-bad, b-b-b-b-bad, bad to the bone.'_

Rogue slipped her slim phone out of her front pocket and glanced at the caller i.d.

"Is it him?" Tabby asked.

"The Candyman?" Wanda added.

"Oh, I like that. He's a sweet talkin' sugar-coated candyman!"

Rogue stood, prepared to leave the room if the blonde got too rowdy.

"What's up," she said into the phone.

"Where are you?"

"On a jet to Italy. Mama knows a guy with a villa or somethin'."

"Rogue."

"Kidding! It's a joke. You know, those things designed for humor's sake and laughter. You should try it."

There was a pause from the other line, and she could practically see Logan glaring at her. She might have over-stepped there with that last comment. Just a bit.

"So…what's up, daddy-o?"

"_Where _are you?"

"At mom's. I told Wade before I left."

"You didn't tell me. Wade is not your father; I am. You tell me."

"Why is this suddenly an issue?"

"We'll talk later. Just stay with your mother tonight, and I'll get you from school."

"I'm getting concerned. What's going on?"

"It's nothin'. Forget it for now. Are you armed?"

"How can you say it's nothing then ask that? How does that even make sense to you? And of course."

"Good."

Without saying 'bye, Logan hung up. Rogue scowled to herself. Partly because now she was going to wondering about what her dad's deal was. Secondly, why did people just hang up without saying goodbye? Logan, she could understand. He had no home training. If he ever did, the man was excusably old enough to have forgotten any manners he'd been taught.

Still, it was extremely irksome. Add that to extended exposure to Tabby's…Tabbiness and that whole deal with Remy was serving to stir her ire.

Rogue glanced over to see Wanda and Tabby staring at her.

"Is something wrong?" the former asked.

"Was it Candyman?" asked the latter.

"Would you stop saying that? His name is Remy! Okay? Remy!" Rogue snapped. "I hate this!"

The anger she'd felt at Remy was far too close to boiling over. Before she lost it completely, she stormed out of the room. Tabby and Wanda stared at each other, stunned and a little scared.

"We probably could have handled this better," Tabby commented.

"What do you mean 'we'? No one told me what happened."

"I was getting to that! Should we go after her now or –"

"Wait. If she's got Mystique's temper, she'll be throwing Toad around any minute. As scrawny as he is, he's still pretty heavy."

"Isn't that child abuse?"

"Probably."

"Ooookay. Do you guys have ice cream?"

Wanda stared at her a minute, as if considering whether or not to divulge a deep secret. Then she shrugged and pointed to a corner of her room. Tabby walked over to investigate.

"You have a mini fridge?"

"Those boys would see me starved otherwise. The concept of sharing is a foreign thing to them. Especially food."

"You only have four here."

"I have the Blob," Wanda stated dryly.

"Touche!"

* * *

Rogue paced the length of the covered, front porch. She could actually feel her pulse pounding in her head, and it very nearly matched the rhythm of the rain. That wasn't good, wasn't healthy. She couldn't quite bring herself to care at the moment. Her mind was too caught up with her thoughts to focus on her blood pressure.

Remy. What to say about _that _situation? He'd said he hadn't played her, and to a degree, she could believe that. At the beginning, no way was that a game. She would not believe that he would use her like that from the start. Later though, that night, he knew what he was doing.

He didn't think he'd get caught. If it wasn't for Wade, he probably wouldn't have. She never would have known, and they both would have gone on with their undefined relationship until she accidentally absorbed him. That would have been bound to happen. That boy was too touchy-feely for his own good.

Admittedly, she liked that. That he touched her. He'd take her hand when they were walking. He'd touch her shoulder to get her attention. His hand would come dangerously close to her cheek when he messed with her hair. She had a feeling that he had an idea of what touch meant to her. It was a connection that she hadn't experienced since she was thirteen.

She swiped a hand across her eyes, brushed off water drive by the wind. Brushed off tears. She would not cry for him.

Of course, Wade and Logan touched her. But they were different. Logan was her dad, and Wade was her uncle. If she wanted to slap a hand to either of their faces just to see what happened, they'd let her. After all, they were both near invulnerable and not exactly mentally stable. That's what came with working with Weapon X for any amount of time. But Tabby, that girl was just odd.

Another thing: Weapon X. Just what were they doing? Where did they go after Carolina? Why haven't they shown themselves yet. No way had they given up. Organizations like that don't just go away after a little fight like that. No doubt they were going to show up again, but the question was when.

Was that what Logan wanted to talk about? Did he find something out? From Fury, maybe?

What if…

Rogue stumbled over a loose board and tripped her way to the rail. She was barely aware of it; her mind too busy running in circles to notice.

She knew Remy hadn't made her a mark from the start. He didn't know her then. But what if he realized later, and his _boss _found out? And what if his boss was Weapon X?

That would explain where they'd been. Biding their time and watching. Using her through Remy to keep tabs. When they needed more information about who they were going up against with the Institute, they'd sent him in.

Rogue slammed a fist against the wooden rail and very nearly growled. This was all too frustrating. Every thing was just running around and around, and she wasn't getting anywhere. The only thing she was doing was making her temper worse. She needed to calm down. She needed to stop thinking about him. Easier said than done, since every thought wormed its way back to him.

"Stupid jerk!" she whispered to herself.

Her phone went off again, playing something like,

'_Great balls of fire!'_

Followed by an electric guitar solo. She let it ring a while, debating whether or not she was going to answer it. Knowing he'd just call back anyway, she answered.

"Hey, Johhny."

"Babe! How can you just 'hey, Johnny' me? It's almost like you don't want to talk to me."

"Imagine that," she rolled her eyes, seeing him pouting in her mind's eye.

"What's this about you burnin' down your school?"

"Only a vague notion I've been having. Nothing too serious. But if I happen to show up at your front door, don't be surprised. And if Sue calls you at all, don't answer. Or from Ben or Reed either, 'cause she'd just steal their phones."

"You don't even know where I live."

"Sure I do! You live in…Riversdale?"

"_Bayville._ I don't think you could find me even if I gave you point by point instructions. I bet the gas mileage for your car sucks too."

"Yeah…about that…"

"You killed another one, didn't you?"

"It's totally Ben's fault, I swear! So what is your address anyway?"

"It's uhm…"

"Ha! And you call me a dumb blonde! At least I know where I live."

"Shut up! I stopped keeping track after a while, all right?"

After thinking for a moment, it still wouldn't come to her. This was really going to bug her if she didn't found out. Plus, it was a distraction from her own hectic thoughts.

"Give me a minute."

Rogue rushed through the front door and back up the stairs, straight to Wanda's room. She opened the door, leaning her torso through.

"Tabby!"

"What!" the blonde shrieked, startled by Rogue's sudden appearance and reflexively hiding her ice cream behind her back.

Wanda merely looked amusedly concerned, if such a look was possible.

"Where do we live?"

"…what?" she questioned, looking wary and confused.

"The address for the X Manor," she said slowly.

"The _X Manor_? You live in a place called the X Manor? I have gotta see this place," Johnny chuckled.

"1407 Graymalkin Lane," Tabby responded.

"1407 Graymalkin Lane," Rogue repeated into the phone, already backing out.

"Rogue, wait!" Wanda called.

"What?"

"Are you okay? And if you say 'fine', I'll hex you."

Grey eyes met sapphire, and Rogue said very somberly,

"I'm on the phone,"

And shut the door behind her.

"I think she's still mad you."

"Mad at me? Mad at you."

"Not even us. It's him."

"You're right. It's all his fault."

"Yup. Candyman."

"Stop that," Wanda scowled at her.

Tabby spooned chocolate ice cream into her mouth.

* * *

They had a date. Rather, Rogue and Johnny had reserved a day for him to come see her over the summer. They both knew that if by some miracle Logan agreed to let her go to New York to see Johnny, Wade would disagree. Then proceed to pout, argue, then sob like a baby until he got his way. That being, going with her or her staying. Since dealing with Wade's tantrums were just tiring and pointless, the date was made.

Yet there was nothing romantic about it. Johnny and Rogue were friends, had been since she was fifteen and lived in Glenville. Of course, she'd despised him at first. He hadn't been too fond of her either. There's something about two people being so much alike that it's near impossible to like each other. That had been their problem, to a degree. Circumstances, that is, Mr. Brown, forced them together in a situation that would have ended in either of their brutal deaths or a lasting friendship.

Rogue sat with her back to the house, watching the few cars ride by and splash the sidewalk. It'd stopped raining hours ago, but she'd yet to go back inside. If she did, she'd have to talk to Tabby about him, and she didn't want to. The blonde was persistent though, and by the end of it, there would be an unconscious body and a new voice in her head. She was halfway certain that Tabby had ADHD or something and decided she didn't really want to experience that.

So she sat outside and enjoyed the after-rain smell and quiet night and tried not to think about anything.

_You should call him._

_You should let Logan deal with him._

_Don't listen to them, Sunshine. You should let dear, old Uncle Wade take a whack at him. And by whack, I mean cut him into tiny, unidentifiable pieces and set them on fire. I'll make it look like a Mob hit and send the ashes to his family._

And now she felt like crying again.

'_I remember when, I remember when I lost my mind. Some –'_

"What, Wade?"

"Did you know that flour explodes?" he asked excitedly.

In the background, yelling and clattering could be heard.

"Yes. What are you doing?"

"Really? I didn't know that. I mean, I did, but I forgot. It's been a while since my last flour bomb. Did you know that if the right amount of pressure, moisture, and heat is used, the flour can be bonded onto people's skin?"

"What in the world are you –"

"Bye!"

"Wade!"

Too late. He hung up. Let's think for a moment. If she called him back and he didn't answer, she'd be slightly worried. For the other people involved. If she called back and he did answer, he probably wouldn't tell her anything. If he did, there was really nothing she could do about it.

In this case, ignorance was bliss. Yet another thing for her to not think about.

Speaking of which, where was her mom anyway?

Her phone chirped a standard melody, alerting her to another call. She certainly was popular tonight. Not even bother to look, she answered the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Hi, Anna! Miss me?"

Only one man still called her Anna. He just couldn't seem to remember that no one else had called her that in years. He probably just didn't care.

"Sure, Tony. What's not to miss about your egotistical, conceited, narcissistic self?"

"Well, you're grumpy. What happened, you get dumped?"

There was a very long pause, during which Rogue managed to restrain the slew of curses from spilling from her lips.

"Oh, crap, you did! What happened? Are you okay? Is he dead? Do I need to start making a paper trail? J.A.R.V.I.S!"

"Relax. It's fine."

She ignored his sigh at that. Everyone who knew her, knew fine did not mean fine.

"And no hacking into police files. Pepper would kill you for committing a federal crime."

"No, she wouldn't. She'd miss me too much. And don't change the subject. Why didn't Iknow you were dating anyone? I don't even understand how you're allowed to date."

"Excuse me?"

"Other than the fact that you're a baby –"

"I'm eighteen."

"Anna, as long as I'm older than you, you're a baby. I can't see you as anything else. Besides my personal stand, I'm amazed Logan and Wade condone such behavior."

"Can we not talk about this? Seriously, I've been avoiding this for hours, and I don't want to deal with it."

"Fine. We won't talk about it now. I won't say another word about it. Not one word. So how's school?"

"Do you really care?"

"Nope! I'm sure it sucks. I mean, it's high school."

"Pretty much. How's Pepper and Rhodey?"

"Rhodester got a promotion to…something else. And Pepper's beautiful."

"Tony, that's not –"

"She's pregnant!"

"Whoa! Since when?"

"We found out today. Like, an hour ago."

"It's almost eleven."

"Did you forget who you're talking to? Please, Anna, time is nothing! We're having a girl, and she's going to have red hair, but Pepper says I should shut up because I don't know, but I do. I can feel it. What do you think about Ava Marie Stark? Sounds good right?"

He was rambling, but his excitement was clear. It was also contagious. Tony's voice held was so animated, it had Rogue laughing from wonder and delight.

"That is so awesome? You're namin' her after me?"

"Heck, yeah! It's not exactly, but close enough and she'll have a good role model in her cousin along with having a strong name. The book says having a strong name's important. Most of what it says is crap, but I agree with that part. I mean, what if you name your kid Ichabod? Or would you be her god-sister since I'm your god-father? Yeah, that makes more sense."

Rogue laughed at his long-winded babble. It got the point across, but was far too amusing.

"We'll paint her room green like –"

"Sir," a machinated voice was heard in the background, "Mrs. Stark is preparing to go upstairs."

"What? She's not supposed to do that alone! She could fall and hurt herself. Anna, I gotta go. Talk later, bye!"

_Click_

At this point, Rogue was near to laying on her side, laughing. She knew it. She'd just known those two were suppose to be together. Not for the first time, she congratulated herself on that successful match-up. Knowing those two, without her and Rhodey, they probably wouldn't even be dating at this point. They were just too stubborn.

So why was she such an utter failure with her own love life?

The front door to her left slammed open with a bang, hitting the wall, and closing behind the hyper-active blonde. A moment later, the raven-haired witch opened it much more sedately, with an air of annoyance.

"All right, little Miss Mope-A-Long, " Tabby pointed a finger right at her, "it's time you get out of this funk of yours and wallowing in your pity party and do something!"

"You have had _way _too much ice cream," Wanda noted, standing clear of both of them.

Rogue, still with a smile on her face, looked away from her toward the garage.

"It stopped rainin'," she said, stating the obvious.

"Your point?" Tabby asked, confused.

"So Lance's ride holds a lot more room for toilet paper than my bike, and TP'ing Kelly will be a lot easier with the water already provided."

Wanda smirked and backed toward the door.

"I'll get the boys."

"No, no boys. Just get his keys," Rogue instructed. "We're havin' a girl's night."

"All right!" Tabby punched a hand in the air. "The Rogue is back! This is gonna be fun. Let's use the pink kind! Can we please?"

Rogue and Wanda both rolled their eyes before the one stood up and stretched and the other went to 'borrow' keys. Rogue looped an arm through Tabby's and directed her inside.

"First, Boom-Boom, we need different outfits. Somethin' more appropriate for skulking around. Know any good shops open this time of night?"

Tabby tilted her head, thinking for a moment, before a sly grin spread across her face.

"Oh, yeah. I know a few."

As they were walking up the stairs, Rogue's phone went off again. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. Without hesitation, she pressed the reject button and held it until the phone went off.

* * *

'_Sorry I missed you, but I promise whatever I'm doing is for the betterment of mankind. Leave your name, number, and the reason you're interrupting my quest for world peace, and I might get back to ya.'_

_Beep_

Remy ended the call without doing any of those. He stared at his phone for a long while, toying with the cigarette between his fingers. The phone glowed a violent magenta and was hurled the wall where it exploded.

Calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, Remy, shrugged off his coat, lay back on his bed, and brought the cigarette to his lips. He took a drag and exhaled slow. The smoke curled up towards the ceiling in thin trails of grey and disappeared.

"She's just a girl," he said.

The words were as void as smoke.

* * *

A/N: So, I read this guide to writing good Naruto fanfiction, and it brought up some good points. The one I address now is Author Notes. Apparently, they're supposed to be used for stuff relevant to the story. Y'all may have noticed I abuse that rule…like a lot. What I want to know is if it annoys anyone and you want me to stop with the yammering.

I don't know what Tony's ringtone should be. Suggestions? Don't care? (story relevant)


	32. Do They Sell Wall Stuff?

Hello mostly ladies and gents! (some of whom are getting just a bit pushy. And frankly, I don't like being pushed, poked, flicked, prodded or any of those other intrusive, bossy things my big sister likes to do. And I tell that Heffa (pet name, all in love) off. So let's not go there.

On that note, this thing's a load more popular than I thought it'd be. Thanks to all the lovely readers/reviewers/alerters/favoriters and so on.

The pronunciation of St. John is Sin Jin, therefore, he will be referred to as _Jin_, since I do have Johnny (Storm) mentioned in here from time to time.

Also, there's a cameo from a another Marvel character up in here. Will anyone catch it, I wonder?

* * *

Lying was an ultimately futile and stupid thing to do. Especially to one's self.

Rogue was not just a girl. She was his friend. He _enjoyed_ being with her, whether doing nothing, racing through the streets at illegal, unsafe speeds, or psyching out waiters at restaurants they could _never, ever_ go to again.

He actually _wanted _to be with her. Not in _that _way, but…well, yes, in _that _way, but it wasn't a requirement or anything. It wasn't the _why. _She was fun and easy to be around. She didn't demand anything of him.

Within their first few meetings, she'd seen through the shining charm he laid on, the little sparkle to attract and distract from the flaws. Remy would be the first to say he wasn't perfect. She'd seen though it though and gotten down to the _real_ him.

That's not to say he didn't stop flirting; he wouldn't be him otherwise. They didn't date, per se. Couples kissed on dates; they did not. They hung out, talked, did stupid, _fun_ things. Became friends with a femme.

Which was something like a major phenomenon in Remy Lebeau's world. He could count on one hand the number of women he could actually call friends. Like, 'I got your back!' friends.

Mercy, his brother's wife and his sister-in-law.

Mattie Baptiste, aunt of everyone who's ever stepped foot in the Lebeau home.

_Maybe_ Bella Donna, depending on the tides and the cycle of the moon, and _if_ she was in a really spectacular mood.

…no one else readily came to mind. And that would almost be pathetic, except he's Remy Lebeau, and he doesn't _do _pathetic. His brother and cousins would beg to differ. Actually, they'd probably be rolling on the floor laughing at him.

Great. Now he was homesick, too.

So, no, Rogue was not just a girl. She was a friend. One he was attracted to, yes, but there was no rule that said a guy couldn't be attracted to his girl…friend. He didn't have to wear a mask with her, and he didn't have to be cool and charming _all_ the time. Sure, he hadn't told her everything about him, obviously. No doubt, he'd wanted to. It'd make everything much simpler, less stressful. With her, he could relax, let his guard down. She was safe.

He missed that so much right now as he sent a bored glance to his visitors.

Tall, blond, blue eyed, Kyle would not have looked out of place in a horned helmet and raiding sea port villages with the rest of his Viking clan. In Remy's opinion – which he highly valued – ,he was a good kid who'd been in a bad place at the wrong time, subsequently getting carted off to a worse place. Working for Magneto was a step up from the goonies he'd been with before though. At least Ol' Bucket Head didn't screw around with his DNA.

Wild Child earned his name from the pointed ears, huge claws and canines, and feral attitude. Of course, attitude was not how Magneto picked his men. Super strength, speed, agility, heightened senses and healing, and already trained in a number of fighting styles and weaponry, the sixteen year old was extraordinary. Teetering the line of unstable and homicidal, compounded with being socially awkward and a bit naïve at times, but a beast in combat.

And that was really going to be a problem for Remy later on.

The Wild Child took a position leaning against the wall and glared down at Remy as St. John walked into the room after him, playing with a lit sparkler. Sprawled across his bed, Remy watched the small fire weave little flames in the air as he waved it like a baton.

The red-headed Aussie spun the stick between his fingers, a slightly manic grin on his face. This one worried him. Magneto had picked him up from Australia after he'd been incarcerated for arson, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, threatening a police officer, destroying police property, destroying private property, theft of several lighters and ignition fluid, assaulting _two _police officers, and some other ludicrous thing he couldn't remember. It involved a monkey named Chichi; that much he knew.

Point was: that one had serious issues that the Ritalin wasn't taking care of. Actually, Remy wasn't sure if there was anyone in Magneto's employ that didn't have _something_ mentally or chemically wrong with them, himself and Piotr excluded.

"I swear, Pyro, you burn anythin' in my room again, I will blow your freakin' head off," he warned around the cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Ooh, big, bad Gambit's in a mood, idn't he?" Pyro scoffed and shuddered dramatically. "Which is precisely why we're here, mate."

He ignored this statement and them, moving his gaze to watch the smoke float up to the metal ceiling.

"You need to get it together and get over this girl," Kyle told him.

Tactful, that boy was and so very subtle. If Remy felt any surprise that they were even _aware_ of a girl, he didn't show it.

"Quoi femme?"

"Don't get cute; I haven't got the time. I get that she was special to you but –"

"What makes you thinks she any different? He got you followin' me now?"

"Nah, it's just that you don't smell like sex" – they both ignored Pyro's snort of laughter – "when you come back anymore. I figure the girl's got to be special or something to keep you on a leash like that, but get it together, man. 'Cause if you keep acting weird, boss man _is_ going to have you trailed."

Pyro snorted at that and started talking to the fire.

"That bludger's paranoid enough to 'ave his own mother on house arrest. But you know he will. Remy won't be goin' to the lavatory without someone to 'old his hand. 'Course, he'd pick Kyle for the job as Gambit's got that thief trainin', and Kyle's got training that's messed him up so much he's liable to snap and kill us all in our sleep anytime now trainin'," he said, stifling a giggle on that last part.

The feral mutant let out an annoyed snort while Remy was just a bit, morbidly amused. Because that last part was really not that far off.

"Remy appreciate the concern, boys, but the girl ain't an issue no more."

"Sheila dumped ya then."

"Jin," Remy sat up to look the fire bug in the eye, "do ya want moi to come after you?"

"Well, why not? I'm bloody bored out of mind here, sittin' 'round here and waitin' on Mister Bucket Butt to actually have us _do_ somethin'! I feel like I've been here years and years _and years_ and –"

"We get it!" Kyle snapped. "You're bored. Seriously, how old are you?"

"Don't know, my boy. You should ask your mum."

The blond glared at him a moment.

"My mother is dead," Kyle growled at him.

Pyro laughed nervously, hazel eyes flitting about the room looking for a distraction. Unfortunately for him, Remy's room was exceptionally bare of anything of interest save an obsessive amount of cards.

"What was that, Magsy, sir?" he yelled. "I'll be right there!"

He ran out of the door so fast, Quicksilver'd be impressed. Remy pulled the cig from his mouth and pressed a hand over his mouth, eyes glinting with repressed laughter. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Crazy Aussie," he muttered.

Remy pulled his hand from over his mouth and focused his attention on the dwindling cigarette, alternately charging and de-charging it.

"Like you can talk. You ain't insane, garcon, but don't tell yourself ya ain't got issues."

"I don't."

"Need I remind of the Canada job?"

"Man, I hate Canada," he said in lieu of answering.

The Canada job had been…interesting. And mostly one not talked about for several reasons that will not be mentioned.

"Exactement."

He began to look a little uncomfortable and straightened off the wall. He held his arms behind his back and spread his legs apart a space, taking an at ease position. Remy didn't need his empathy to pick up on this one. His nervous pose. The boy would suck at poker.

"I just…wanted to make sure you didn't do something stupid. I wouldn't want to be stuck with just the rest of these clowns. I mean, none of them have any idea how to use a rapier."

"Aw, would you miss me, Kyle?"

"Would I miss having someone decent to spar with who _doesn't_ have a fascination with seeing how much I can bleed without passing out? Yes. Very much."

Remy chuckled, standing from his bed and flicking the glowing cigarette away from him. It exploded mid-air with a small pop.

"You and me, live steel rapiers, no helmets."

Yes, they were supposed to protect the head, but really, the kid had super strength. He'd be dead either way.

Kyle grinned at him, showing teeth and rather large canines.

"And _that _is another reason I'd miss you. You're the fun kind of insane."

Or the suicidal kind. Same thing to Kyle.

**

* * *

**

Tabby had driven like a woman possessed halfway across town to a little shop in between a tattoo parlor and a diner, all three still open. The sign usually read 'Hot Glam', but they'd turned the light on. The lights on the't' didn't come on.

Before the two older girls could express their qualms, Tabby had already jumped out of the truck, keys in hand, and running through the door. Wanda gave Rogue a look and settled back in her seat, arms crossed. Rogue was a little hesitant about getting out herself. It's not that she was snobbish about where she shopped; she just drew a line 'Ho Glam'. Five minutes later, Tabby came out and dragged them inside. They were starting to think the blonde had freakish strength as a side mutation.

There was only one worker, a middle aged woman with cherry red hair streaked with pink streaks throughout, overly colorful choice in makeup, _eclectic_ style of clothing, and insisted they call her 'Tish' instead of 'Leticia'.

Tabby shoved them toward a row of clothes and started on the other end, occasionally holding up some for them to disapprove of…like the red tutu. They talked and joked back and forth, and Tish added her two cents every now and then. More like a dollar, really, constantly. Rogue and Wanda learned that she was an artist, married to a soldier serving overseas, four months pregnant, craved ketchup and carrots, and was _obsessed _with Food Network.

"If my husband could cook like Emeril Legassi, I would have made him my house man. I mean, I can cook, but Emeril can _throw down_, you know? But my husband can't boil water without burning it. And where is he now? In the middle of a desert with camels expected to be able handle guns and grenades without blowing off his arm. But he _burns _water. Hopefully, he has someone around who can cook like Emeril."

Wanda and Rogue just smiled and nodded while Tish twirled the pink stripes in her hair. Wanda felt a little bit better about her decision to get red out of her hair and touched the back of her short hair self-consciously.

Finally, Tish came over and handed them each a particular pile of clothes and guided them to the changing rooms. The girls all came out in variations of black camo with touches of deep red, purple, and blue mixed in.

"Wow, Tish. This is exactly what we needed."

"Yeah, Tabs said you girls need skulking material."

Rogue nearly groaned and Wanda sent the blonde a quick glare that she just smiled at. Tish caught the look and said,

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not a snitch or anything. I remember one time, me and cousin and her boyfriend hot-wired her ex-boyfriend's car and drove it into lake after we doused it in gasoline and set it on fire. It was awesome and loads of fun. I think that guy might be in prison now for something, but back in the day, he was pretty fun."

The two older teens just stared, not really sure what to say to that. Tabby just laughed and said,

"Isn't Tish great?"

"Oh, she's really something else all right," Wanda muttered.

Once that was done and they were back outside, Wanda stole the keys from Tabby who immediately called shotgun and jumped in. Wanda stared at the keyed up blonde and suggested Ritalin to Rogue.

"Shouldn't you be used to this, having Pietro?" Rogue asked from her backseat position.

"Pietro _has _Ritalin."

"Ouch," Rogue commiserated.

"Don't hate, girls, because you just can't be as bombastic as me," Tabby said airily

"You realize that means you're pompous and long-winded," Wanda pointed out.

Tabby paused a moment then shrugged.

"Still true. And I'm only snobby towards the snobs who are snobs to everybody else, like you two. I stand up for my people!"

"I don't know if I should be offended or not," Rogue commented, a little amused.

She was freakishly beginning to remind her of Wade at this point.

"No, I mean it in a good way. I have this theory. The snobbery look down on the commoners because really, they're bored and jealous. They got their cash and houses and clothes and vacation houses and parties, but you know what they don't have?"

"People like us?"

"Exactly," she used her hands to emphasize her points, "They got the cash to copy what the celebs do and even get a few to show up at their parties. They got everything everyone else is trying to get, when most of 'em will never come anywhere near it. It comes to the point where they can't do better and get bored. It's all downhill for them. The thing with the people who don't have, they got the idea that everything new is just a little bit better than what they had. They always have the hope that there's gonna be more to go after. We're never gonna get what they have, but we're always gonna try. For us, it's like the sky's the limit, y'know?"

Rogue leaned up to stare at Tabby while Wanda kept glancing at her.

"Well," Wanda said.

"Dang," Rogue finished. "That was…pretty deep, Tabs."

"I know."

"Careful, Boomer," Wanda warned, "Your bombasticity is showing."

"That's not a word, but I like it."

"Can we just go to Walmart now?" Rogue asked.

Tabby laughed.

"In the words of Hilton, do they, like, sell _wall stuff_ there?"

"You don't get to watch MTV anymore," Rogue told her.

Tabby rolled her eyes and whispered to herself,

"That's why I have phone TMZ."

Wanda heard but kept her mouth shut.

* * *

In order to make more money, some Walmart corporations rented out a space to restaurants to run from inside their stores. This particular Walmart housed a Starbucks, and business was booming. Even more so when three teenaged girls walked through the doors and thought since it was there, they might as well.

It so happened that this particular Starbucks had seen fit to hire abnormally attractive young men who seemed to flirt by just looking at a girl. As it was, Tabby never really needed an invitation anyway, but she was running with this. She shamelessly flirted and teased the boys who saw fit to upgrade their talls to vente sizes and add an extra shot espresso to what each girl had ordered.

At the very least, the girl uses her feminine wiles for good.

It was during the consumption of caffeine-laced beverages and sugary-coated baked goods that a plan formulated. Not even a plan, but a vague concept that should only be plausibly acted upon under the influence of drugs and massive boredom.

Anything that is not food or water is a drug.

Caffeine is a super drug.

None of them will remember just who came up with the idea. However, it will be forever noted: Wanda started it.

In the midst of toilet paper collecting, Rogue and Tabby broke into an argument based upon the merits of quilted sheets over non-quilted. Suddenly, they noticed Wanda down the aisle, easing towards a woman with a buggy half full of items. When the woman turned to pull something from the shelf, Wanda casually walked behind her and out of the aisle with the buggy.

The look of confusion on the woman's face when she turned back from her paper towel selection was priceless. She looked up and down the aisle, holding a hand poised in mid-air to grasp of the handle of her absent cart.

Tabby snorted, Rogue snickered, the woman noticed, and they ran, abandoning their own cart.

This will be remembered as why Wanda is not allowed to have caffeine and become bored. Because she's still her brother's sister, and the daughter of a man who thinks it's okay to wear a bucket on his head.

* * *

Wanda found them giggling in the bras and panties section, half leaning on each other for support. Any stares they might have gotten went completely over their heads.

"What…what wa – was…that?" Rogue struggled to gasp out.

"I don't really know," Wanda answered in a bemused fashion.

"She was like…her face was all…so awesome!" Tabby calmed herself, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, I've gotta try that."

Before Wanda could object and be one of those 'do as I say, not as I do' people, Tabby had run off to find the next victim.

"No way am I missin' this!" Rogue pulled herself together and trailed the super-hyper blonde.

Wanda huffed and followed them.

"Stupid Pietro genes."

Baseless accusation or not, she had every intention of paying her brother back for what she was sure would be a disastrous escapade.

* * *

The thing about being a pessimist: you're pleasantly surprised when the really terrible thing you expected to happen doesn't.

For optimisits though, it just makes you annoying and seem very smug when you're right so that the pessimist can just rub it in a bit more when you're wrong.

But that's digression.

Tabitha's first move had been to walk up to the first random stranger she saw near the electronics and said in her best overly giddy tone,

"Hi! I haven't seen you in so long. How ya been?"

The first random stranger she walked up to was a dark-haired, middle aged man with a face not made for smiling. In fact, there was something a little off about him. If Tabby noticed when she first approached the man wearing a black T-shirt with a large white skull, she probably didn't care.

The man frowned a little as he looked down at Tabby's eagerly smiling face.

"I don't know you."

"Sure you do. Look, I know how awkward it is when you forget someone's name, Ralph. You don't have to feel silly."

"You have the wrong person, miss. My name isn't Ralph."

"Of course it is! I think I'd remember my mom's ex-boyfriend. You know, she's not mad at you for the break-up or anything. She just didn't feel that you guys were clicking all that well."

With an annoyed, sort of resigned sigh, 'Ralph' nodded.

"Yeah. Okay, kid."

"I'm sure you'll find someone though. You were always a decent guy, even if you had that…you know. That little foot fetish thing going on. Ever work that out in therapy?"

"Yeah."

"Good! Man, that's great. Because seriously, that whole thing was freaky! Well, hey, it was nice seeing you again."

Tabby quickly hugged the man and gave him a parting kiss on the cheek.

"Bye!"

She waved and bounded off. 'Ralph' stared after the odd girl before he turned and headed for the front of the store. On his way, he flicked out his phone and made a quick call.

"Chip."

"Yo, Frankie."

If he weren't so useful and the closet thing he had to a friend, he'd hurt him for that little nickname.

"You didn't happen to catch any of what just happened on the cameras, did you?"

"Yeah, I saw that. Couldn't hear a thing though."

"Good thing."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

He hung up on him.

* * *

If one wanders through the same section long enough, eventually some employee will ask if assistance is needed. Rogue had been following five feet from certain people wandering around in 'her' department, sporting goods, until they left. Fifteen minutes in, and she'd freaked out seven different people and gotten hit on by a fourteen year old.

Major ego boost right there.

And eventually, that employee came and asked,

"Miss, do you need any help?"

"Yes, would you be so kind as to escort me to your Twinkies?"

"Uh…"

Later, she found Tabby and Wanda playing soccer in the bedding department. It became a free-for-all once she got there, and the game deteriorated into dodge-ball, but more like dodge-pillow.

After their little fun, the three girls lounged on the patio furniture, after stopping to check in with their favorite barista boys. Instead of more coffee for the system, they got smoothies to help cool off.

"I feel like a juvenile delinquent," Rogue mused, stretched out one of the chairs.

"You're not," Tabby assured her. "You're eighteen, so you'll be charged as an adult. I, on the other hand, will get a much lighter sentence."

"Assuming we'll get caught," Wanda pointed out.

"It's called karma," Tabby informed her.

"Hm," Rogue mused. "We should offset that. Do a good deed."

"Do you honestly think one good thing will off-set all this bad joo-voo-dee?" Tabby asked, waving her hands in a mystical manner.

Wanda could only be amused by the younger girl at this point while Rogue nearly choked on her smoothie. The other two turned to their Southern friend. She raised a hand to signal them to give her a moment while she caught her breath enough to say,

"Joo-voo-dee!"

A split second pause before the three teens descended into senseless hilarity. Preoccupied with their new agenda, Principal Kelly's home was spared that night. As for that new plan, well…

Rogue held her arm around her stomach, slouched against the arm rest. She closed her eyes to try and block out the infectious humor. Tabby's laughter sputtered between muffled giggling and gasping. Wanda was kneeling forward, shoulders shaking.

Almost calm, and then they made a mistake.

They looked at each other, and that carefully crafted calm vanished in the renewed wake of their mirth. They were laughing even as they were escorted out of the supercenter.

Well, all things in their due time.

* * *

A/N: Things to do in Walmart. I have got to try this one day when I'm out of town.

And you guys! Why does know one tell me when I make mistakes in these things? Y'all know I'm too lazy to actually go back and read this stuff. That's half the reason I got a B in English (stupid Nero lady). I mean really, No one noticed I put Boob-Boom last chapter? Really? And I mixed the no/know. And other stuff.

On a semi-related note, I hate being rushed.


	33. Boys' Night Out

Yes, it has been a while with this one. But seriously. Try writing a sprawling epic with an actual pseudo-plot thrown in there with all the loose ends that this thing has. Rest assured that this story will be completed. This is my baby. I just kinda dropped it off at the baby-sitter's…for a couple of months…

* * *

When Wade says things, it usually should be taken with a grain of salt. An odd term that, which merely meant that Wade was a raving nut but sometimes, what he says is true. When he'd said that he'd been followed the other day, Logan had done some checking. It wasn't that he doubted the other man…he just didn't feel comfortable taking his word for it.

Logan tracked guns, blood, and something sterile all the way to New York City and a bar – which was just _so _original; he'd bet twenty the main headquarters was 'hidden' in a warehouse. In any case, he really hated when Wade was right. He hadn't expected Weapon X to show up that quickly or to be this sloppy. He was starting to get where Wade was; _this _was insulting.

Logan did not take insults lying down. Wade took insults any way they were dished out, turned around, and shoved them right back down the person's throat. Logan was tense on a regular basis; it was healthy for him. Then Raven's reappearance which he handled mostly by not thinking about it; that didn't work. Let's not forget Rogue's little…involvement; it'd been a long while since he'd had an excuse to dismember someone. When he found the cockroaches meeting place, Logan also found a wonderful place to relieve tension.

It was so great how life worked sometimes.

A few nights later, Wolverine and Deadpool had a little roadtrip. It was, in fact, the same night Rogue and her friends had their night out on the town. This is largely inconsequential, save for a short phone call from Logan to Rogue once Wade remembered he was supposed to be telling him about Rogue leaving to…somewhere. He hadn't yelled or hit him. Instead, he repressed it.

Then the Wolverine and the Merc walked into a bar: a bar which was a total hole in the wall to a bunch of worthless sleaze balls and Weapon X grunts. The two mutants proceeded to trash the bar, mostly using the various men who insisted on charging them and throwing them, tables, and whatever else at the Weapon X grunts with the guns.

It was liberating.

In little time, the floor was practically carpeted with the bodies of mostly breathing men. Boot firmly planted on a random grunt's neck, sword situated near the nether regions of another, and gun leveled at another's temple, Deadpool grinned behind his mask.

"I have so missed moments like this, haven't you, Jimmy?"

Wolverine's fist was on one man's throat. Two claws were fully extended into the wall behind him. The middle one just _touched_ the man's Adam's apple. The man's breathing was panicked and stutter, causing his throat to move. The sharp metal nicked his flesh, and the barest bit of blood leaked from the cut. Total fear showed on his face, and he froze, not breathing, not blinking.

Wolverine chuckled. "I hate agreeing with you, but yeah. So…which one do you think'll talk first?"

The masked man made a show of taking a keen look at each of the four conscious men.

"Well, that depends. My good man Tom down here seems likely. I mean, I don't know many guys who'd rather have their throats crushed under my size twelves than spill their guts. I mean that figuratively, in this case. Then again, you, Dick," the gun was pressed more firmly against the other man's head, "will have a hole in your head, and nobody needs another of those, right?"

He was rambling, and enjoying it so much. Wolverine would indulge him, this once.

"On the other hand," he addressed the third, very unfortunate man, "my friend Harry here would have the most to lose. You guys would just die, with little to a lot of pain. But this dude will have to live the rest of his pathetic live as a Harriett, and then die a horrible death later on." He gave the man a serious look. "I'll be honest. I'm not licensed to do surgeries."

The so-dubbed Harry just gaped at him, while 'Tom' had passed out from the fact Deadpool actually was applying a bit of pressure to his throat, and 'Dick' looked like he was going to piss his pants any minute now. It's sad to say, Wolverine's new friend already beat him to that trick.

"So who wants to be a snitch?" Deadpool asked cheerfully.

Everyone still conscious raised their hands.

* * *

Wolverine stood in the shadow of a dark alley. The smells and sounds of the city hit his sense, but he blocked them out for the distractions they were. He focused his attention on large structure across the street, standing near two stories tall. The location had several identical buildings on either side of the street. There were light posts toward the front near the street, but at the back of the building, only a single light bulb hanging over the back door provided light. The lights of the city couldn't stretch this far over the distance from there to several streets over, where the city stood proper.

Merely, it was a point of fact that the warehouse districts were rarely well-lit. That's right. Warehouse. Someone owed Logan twenty bucks.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Deadpool whispered, crouched across from him and fingering his gun.

"Yeah."

"I mean, really, really, really, _super_ sure?"

Wolverine looked at him. Deadpool was staring at the building, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. His fingers were tapping out a beat on the side of his pistol.

"Considering you removed the man's toe, and the place has their scent around it, I'd say sure."

"Great. It's after twelve by a lot. So that just means our boy is late. That is just _so _inconsiderate and typical. Doesn't he realize that people don't have the time or _patience _for this? I am missing_ Golden Girls_ for this? That's it! He's getting punched in the face. I don't care –"

It was at that point that Wolverine tuned him out. That tension was coming back again. Slowly but surely.

Stakeouts sucked eggs.

* * *

Just when Wolverine was about to claw out Deadpool's voice box – which experience told him would give him about ten minutes of quiet – their boy showed finally made his appearance.

A roaring motor was heard before a stream of headlights bounced off of one of the other warehouses up the street. It was a loud rumble, almost deafening in the relative silence. The familiar curves and lines of a green, fifth generation Camaro shot around the corner at a dangerous speed and then smoothly stopped in front of their target warehouse. The door was pulled open from the inside by an unseen worker, and the car surged through. The door slid closed behind it, and the two mutants looked at each other.

"Was that –"

"Yeah."

"I thought it blew –"

"Guess not."

"Huh. Well, I probably shouldn't use the grenades then."

* * *

Warehouses were often used for not so savory meetings and hangouts mainly because of the convenience. They were large enough to store all of the tech that had to be shipped and what they needed to use. There was also plenty of room for all of the men amongst the rows and stacks of crates for a fifth generation Camaro to park and easily maneuvering around it, maintain a radius of ten feet.

The door opened, and a cowboy stepped out of car. A Weapon X agent immediately approached him then took a quick step back from the car.

"Sir. We have a situation."

The black man adjusted the tan cowboy hat and shut the car door with a gentle hand.

"Can you walk and talk, boy?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let's go then."

The younger man led the way through a maze of crates, past armed men on patrol and men standing guard. He delivered the report quickly and concisely, and in all his many years in service, John 'Kestrel' Wraith had never met a bigger suck up.

At the end of the walk, a screen bank of monitors showed footage of the surrounding area. Two men showed on one screen, and in a moment, they drifted off the screen like shadows. On either side of the monitors, two armed guards stood and the same suck-up who'd fetched him was working the controls of the system.

"How long they been there?"

"A few hours, sir. What are your orders, sir?"

"Take a break for a while."

"But…sir, I don't think –"

Kestrel never heard the rest of what he did not think because the man's neck broke in his hands. Before either of the guards could level their guns on him, Kestrel had put a bullet in both of their heads. He then added a few more to the torsos in a sporadic pattern. He pushed the first man out of the chair before taking his place and set to work scrambling the video feed, erasing the footage of two old friends sneaking in the back door. Not long after the screens were shut down, the gun fire, off-key singing, and screaming started. Leaning forward and cupping his chin in his hands, he settled to wait. He looked at the dead man cooling at his feet and blinked.

"Trust me; I did y'all a favor."

* * *

Not only were warehouses convenient for the people who'd initially used them, they were also pretty wonderful for other people. People who skulked around dark hallways on silent feet, ghosting around as many guards until one poor lackey finally spotted them.

"Freeze!" he called out.

Deadpool aimed an assault rifle at him.

"Fire!" he cried out and did as he said.

That naturally drew the attention of all of the men they'd managed to avoid and everyone else. They shot at him and while many hits landed, the bullets did nothing to stop him. Armed with a rifle and a handgun, Deadpool unleashed a sporadic hail of lead upon the men with utter glee. In fact, he even sang his own version of a song as he did.

"Oh mama! Mama, mama! I just shot a man down! And another! And another one! And a dozen man!"

Behind him, a separate troop of men were trying to sneak up on him.

"Shoot him!" one ordered.

He was answered with a wet '_Hrk_' and turned around enough to have three massive claws miss his face and instead take off his left ear. He fell to the ground, clutching the side of his head screaming. His attacker, the fully feral Wolverine, wasted no more time on him and threw himself at another man. Between the two of them, they made steady progress cutting though their numbers. In little time, the warehouse resembled the bar they vacated earlier, only with more blood and corpses.

Deadpool poked one man's chest with the flat of his katana and sighed.

"They just don't make goons like they used to."

"Stop wasting time," Wolverine said as he wiped his claws off with a scrap of shirt and stalking around the bodies. "Cops're gonna come see what all that gunfire was about and we still –"

"Have to talk to me?" a familiar voice asked.

Rather than jump, Deadpool pointed and shot out of reflex. Fortunately, Kestrel figured he'd do that and teleported in front of him.

"That's a good way to get shot," Wolverine said, tossing the cloth over his shoulder.

"John Boy!" Deadpool cried and immediately lunged forward to glomp the black man.

Kestrel sidestepped the flying tackle and addressed Wolverine.

"You wanted to talk?"

"John!" Deadpool cried again and this time successfully hugged the man. "I missed you _so _much!"

"You just saw me a couple of months ago and didn't hug me. Stop it!"

"Look at this! The old crew together again," Deadpool reached for Logan who weaved around his grasping hand. "This is such a Kodak moment!"

"Victor ain't here," Wolverine put in.

"I meant everyone who _matters _and not dead!"

Kestrel pushed himself out of the madman's bear hug and straightened his hat.

"You know, I always forget how crazy you are."

"Thanks, man. Oh, and dude, you stole the car?"

"Like that's the worst thing I've ever done."

"Touche."

"Enough," Wolverine said. "We don't have time for small talk. John, do you know anything about what Weapon X is planning? Why are they still after us?"

"Don't be stupid. These guys will _never_ let you go. Not for real. You forget, they put a lot of time and money into you, the both of you."

"Time and money?" Deadpool quipped. "I actually always forget _that_. Probably 'cause of all the sharp, pointy things they shoved in, too."

"Things are the same as ever around here. It doesn't change. Just different places, different faces. I know about one new project though. Heard some talk about it. It's called the Sentinel Project. I don't know any details, but it's supposed to be some kind of battle suit."

"That's all you know?"

"It ain't like they hand out newsletters on the latest projects. Although," Kestrel fished a USB stick out out his pocket, "they still leave such interesting info the in the damndest places."

He tossed it to Wolverine who caught and pocketed it. Deadpool stood next to Kestrel, arms crossed and amused.

"Say it," he coaxed.

"What?" Wolverine replied.

He hadn't the slightest clue what Deadpool meant. It was impossible to follow the man's train of thought.

"Tell him thank you. Go on. He deserves it. Say it."

Kestrel smirked. "It's cool, Wade. He doesn't have to say it."

"Yeah, I'm too busy wonderin' what you're gettin' out of this."

"Logan. Come on, you know me."

"I do. Which is _exactly _why I'm wondering."

"Let's just say if I ask a favor, you do it no questions asked."

Wolverine nodded. "All right. Wade, let's go."

"One thing! Real quick," Deadpool turned to Kestrel, "You know if you walk away from this without a mark, your people will be suspicious. I mean, we know you're good, but we're the best."

Logan gave Kestrel a questioning look.

"Him or me?"

"Guy with a metallic skeleton or Wade…this is karma at its finest," Kestrel sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Would you rather I shoot you?"

Kestrel considered it for a _long_ moment.

"Once. In the arm, through and through, and don't hit an artery."

Deadpool checked to make sure there was a bullet in the chamber, scoffing. "Puh-lease," he leveled the gun at him, "Like I'm an amateur."

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

The next morning, after the children had been sent off to school, Ororo was surveying the aftermath of another breakfast. Plates of food were stacked precariously on the counter, two dozen glasses were scattered around the room, and various spills littered the table, counter, and stove. The orange juice and milk were left out, half a banana was floating in a bowl of half-eaten cereal, and it looked like someone had crumbled an entire bagel onto the floor. She looked up. At least there was no food on the ceiling today.

The white haired woman began cleaning the mess by washing up the dishes. At that moment, Wade walked into the kitchen room wearing his mask, a wife beater, and boxers with his masked face on them. She looked next to her when he came to retrieve a bowl from the cabinet next to her.

"Good morning, Wade."

"Eh, if you say so."

"Is something wrong?"

He turned to the opposite counter, picked up a box of Flaky Frosties, dumped what little remained into his bowl, and added Loopy Fruits to the mix along with Shamrock Charms.

"Nope. Everything's pretty much the standard way of things. And things with me are kinda always one big SNAFU so that really does explain everything you need to know."

Ororo frowned at him while he poured milk into his bowl.

"I don't understand."

"Don't feel bad. Not a lot of people do. I can count on one hand how many people actually understand me."

"That's certainly not surprising," Emma said as she strutted into the kitchen. "You're a rather special case."

"Aw, and you're just a _peach_," Wade said. "And when I say peach, I really don't mean peach."

The blonde woman merely arched perfectly sculpted brow and went about making her tea.

"Good morning, Emma. How's your nose?" Ororo asked gently, and Wade snorted milk through his nose.

"Much better, thank you. Fortunately, it wasn't broken, and the swelling's gone down quite a bit."

"Sure it has," Wade muttered in between bites.

Emma's piercing blue eyes zeroed in on a suitably unimpressed Wade. At least he wasn't impressed with her eyes. He was looking too low for that. Emma looked him over quickly, a delicate sneer on her flawlessly crafted face.

"Why does your underwear have your face on it?"

"It's not my face. It's my mask."

"All right. Why does your underwear have pictures of your mask on it?"

He shrugged.

"For one thing, it's a good opener for marketing opportunities and getting word out there about the products. I have T-shirts, gloves, jewelry, boots, belt buckles, coffee mugs...other stuff. There are some people in a sweat-shop working on evening wear and bags, but I'm not really liking the designs so far."

"Evening wear?" Emma said bemusedly.

"As for the boxers, some people have Batman underwear, I have Deadpool underwear. Heck, Batman has Deadpool underwear."

"Batman is not real. And even if he were, I doubt he'd be caught dead in those cheap things."

"I'll have you know these are not cheap! This is excellence, and Ting Ting works her knobby, arthritic fingers to the bone on this kind of quality stitching and weave. Besides, honey, not that I'm complaining, I know _you _don't wanna be talkin' to anybody about _clothes_ seeing how little experience you have with them."

With a pointed looked to what she called a shirt, that in reality showed too much skin to be qualified as such, and to her pants that were tight enough to cut off the circulation of a broom handle, Wade turned up his nose and walked past her.

"Good day to you."

Emma whirled on him, not content with him having the last word, "You –"

"I said, good day!" Wade snapped.

Emma huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the doorway.

"Oh! Can you believe that man?"

"No, I cannot," Ororo smiled. "I had no idea Wade was so entrepreneurial."

* * *

Wow. Wade seemed almost normal through most of this. Oh, horrors of horrors, have I lost the magic crazy? Say it ain't so!

It has occurred to me that my alternate universe needs its own name, like the Red Witch's. Suggestions?


End file.
